The Worst Witch 2017 - The Two Religions
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Crossover with Merlin. The Old Religion is returning, rejoicing with the birth of a young girl, a girl born in the non-magical world. Later learning of magic practiced in Cackle's academy. The Craft is in decline and the Old Religion is returning. The girl is promised to change the whole of magic. Her name is Mildred, the supposed Worst Witch. Please tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1 The Spell Book

I don\'t own either the Worst Witch in any form, or Merlin. I just wanted to write a story that features a crossover without putting it in the crossover section. Besides, I plan on doing that in the future because there is so much potential for stories like this. I believe that because the Craft and the Old Religion are so similar then why not write about it? Besides who else feels Merlin from the BBC series isn't similar in some ways to Mildred Hubble?

 **The Worst Witch.**

 **The Two Religions.**

* * *

 **The Spellbook.**

Mildred Hubble, first year student at Cackles academy was lying in bed but she couldn't find it within her to fall asleep after the day she'd just had, meeting the Great Wizard, having to prove to him she could perform well as a student despite all the things that happened around her like she'd broken a few mirrors and gotten twice the 7 years bad luck, and then been humiliated and having to put up with the pressure of leading the broomstick display team and nearly having a heart attack when the boom she'd been riding had taken her high into the sky and then plummeted down again. But then after being used as the secret or not so secret weapon by Agatha Cackle to takeover the school from her twin sister and the schools headmistress and almost been thrown off that broomstick, she found it very, very hard to fall asleep.

A shudder went through Mildred's body as she remembered how madly her heart had pounded like a drum when the broom yanked her left and right before going up, and up, and up above the clouds and higher than anyone on a broomstick should go. If Miss Gullet had been there, if she had been compassionate then she would have gone on about 'health and safety,' but the former spells science mistress was gone and good riddance, after the truth of what happened to Algernon Rowan-Webb had come to light. Personally, like many of the girls, and the staff, Mildred was quite glad the annoying woman was gone, and yet as she thought over the recent events which had started with the visit of the Great Wizard who had come to Cackles to learn if what he'd read in a letter written Agatha was true, Mildred realised something that made her sit up in bed in realisation. How had Agatha learnt so much to write such a letter in so much detail? Unless someone had told her. It was so obvious.

That letter….. it had described in perfect detail what had been happening at the school since she'd arrived; her turning Ethel into a pig, Ethel turning HER into a frog as revenge, finding Algernon…. Every single thing she had done had been written down for a stranger to read. Why did it matter if students at a magical school, a school for witches routinely got into trouble despite her best efforts? He didn't seem to care to hear her side of the story, about how Ethel had transformed HER into a frog and why. No, he just focused on her heritage, showing he was no different from the others. His reaction to her not coming from a magical family was something Mildred was more than used to by now, her heritage was one of the weapons people like Hardbroom and Ethel used against her, taunts about her life and her mother made every single day, how her heritage alone meant she was unwelcome at the school. Who was Ethel or Miss Hardbroom to say she couldn't become a witch? Okay, she conceded the point her skills were sub par with the rest of the girls, but hey at least she was putting in the effort. But who had given Agatha all of that detail? Everyone had first thought it might be Ethel. It would be just like the younger Hallow girl after her elder sister, writing a letter to get one over the girl who shouldn't be here. But Ethel had promised everyone she hadn't written a word to the Great Wizard. But now Mildred was still working out how Agatha had gotten all of that about her when she she was supposed to be locked away, but now she realised there was one person who would've done it without losing any sleep over it.

Miss Gullet. Mildred was sure the older witch hated her guts for ratting her out as the person who'd turned Mr Rowan-Webb into a frog, but really she had herself to blame. And she'd know about where Agatha was, so she would be the other witch's best ally.

Stop it. Mildred closed her eyes and tried to muster the energy to fall asleep, but she couldn't manage it. Miss Gullet wasn't her problem anymore, she was someone else's problem. After a day of being humiliated and used as a pawn in Agatha's little game to take the school from her sister, Mildred found it hard going to fall asleep, especially after that broomstick display. When Miss Cackle, or the woman she had thought was Miss Cackle had told her that SHE would be the one leading the display, Mildred had thought _This is it, I'm dead. They are trying to kill me._ But truly no one could blame her for being nervous. Mildred knew she was the worst flier in the school. If given the chance to practice and instead of doing it in a group with the other girls, Mildred knew she might manage to become a better flier so, then no-one would need to watch over her and sneer at her efforts because they themselves had bypassed that level long ago. Even Maud. But for now she wasn't up to standard, but then she never was.

It was infuriating for her to be classed as a failure so quickly, and in her first year. It wasn't Mildred's fault she hadn't known about magic or magical culture before Maud crashed into her balcony, yet they all expected her to be an expert flier and skilled in making potions or casting spells. Too bad. She needed to learn like everybody else, and Mildred was sure she would reach a satisfactory level eventually given time and encouragement. Mildred closed her eyes and tried to forget the display again, but she would never forget being taken so high and then dropped like a stone; she was glad it was over, that Agatha had been so stupid enough to reveal who she was by trying to cast a spell and revealing nothing was happening. But what she was most pleased about was that the Great Wizard was gone. He might have changed his tune with her at the end of the debacle, but she wished it hadn't involved her. Mildred hadn't said it, but she felt the man was a little bit of a hypocrite. Still Mildred had to admit it had been the perfect revenge for Miss Cackle's sister to use her to get rid of Ada to let her in to become the next headmistress.

Agatha probably classed her like she'd classed her sister, Ada. Why she wanted the academy so much, Mildred couldn't work out; the woman didn't seem to have given much thought at all about potentially ending the lives of both Mildred and Enid when they'd fallen from the sky on that damn broomstick. How she thought she could be a good headmistress whilst being so dismissive of the lives of students Mildred didn't have a clue. She was still out there, Mildred realised, still bitter and jealous of her sister's position as the headmistress, why she couldn't get her own life and do something constructive was anyone's guess. Mildred shrugged her shoulders. Agatha wasn't her problem, for the moment, but she imagined she would be again, soon. Oh well. But truthfully she didn't care what she was trying to prove, and truthfully she doubted she could run the school any better than her sister could. Still, Mildred had to be thankful she hadn't crashed into the Great Wizard and humiliated the school or something.

She pulled Tabby closer to her face, listening to the purrs of her cat, and finally fell asleep.

* * *

Something was stirring in the world of magic. It was older than the Craft which had superseded it hundreds of years ago, but was in fact infinitely more powerful. While the magical practitioners who used the magic of the Craft were aware of the legends surrounding this much older force, their ability to understand it had long since faded. What had once been a highly important religious practice involving sacrifice and ritual was now virtually forgotten to all but a handful. But the Craft had its roots in this force, it had been used by sorcerers for countless generations before it began to decline, but just because a force that is worshipped and used by High Priests and High Priestesses, dedicated servants of the force, declines, and was perceived by magical beings such as the Great Dragons of old who had been wiped out but two by the Great Purge orchestrated in the days before King Arthur ascended to the throne of Camelot. Over the centuries the Old Religion had declined as fewer witches and wizards were able to use and manipulate its power, and so gave way to a much easier evolution in the form of the Craft.

Centred in the Isle of the Blessed, the Old Religion was finally returning to the world of magic. Already others had noticed and had rejoiced that their way of life was finally gaining significance after centuries of strife.

* * *

Cries of "Mildred, you'll be late again!" echoed around Mildred's bedroom the next morning accompanied by the thumps of an impatient Maud Spellbody. Mildred groaned as she struggled to get out of bed. She hated mornings, hated getting out of bed, but she knew if she didn't and she wasn't up in time for lessons then HB would be breathing down her neck like a demented and vicious dragon. Once more Mildred wished Cackles was a day school and not a boarding school; she missed her bedroom, her art work, her own books and TV. Most of all she missed the way her mother woke her up. It was better than the way Maud woke her up, thumping on the door with blows that echoed through Mildred's head like a sledgehammer striking a gong.

Hold on, what's this? There was something in her bed, as large and no bigger than a photo album. It was a book and flicking through it, it was a spell book, but none of the incantations made any sense to Mildred. She had been in Cackles long enough to know that she had to report this, and yet she was curious about the spells. The book was old, very old, yet the pages were still clear and she could read it without any trouble.

But she didn't have the chance to really get a look. More thumps came from the door. "MILDRED!" Damn it.

"Okay, I'm coming," Mildred shouted back, rushing around haphazardly as always to get dressed. As she put her clothes on, grabbing her stuff, Mildred shot the book a look. She didn't really want to take it out with her despite the guarantee Miss Hardbroom never bothered to search them, but she didn't want to take the risk. She didn't know what it was, but every fibre of her being wanted to protect this book and guard it with her life. After sticking the book in her wardrobe, Mildred left the room and hurried out. After leaving the bedroom, Mildred had a full day of lessons and dealing with the sneers of disdain directed towards her by Miss Hardbroom though this time she looked a little…concerned. It had occurred to Mildred to ask what was bothering the teacher whenever she had caught the usually terrifying witch looking at her, but Mildred hadn't mustered the courage to ask her what was wrong. It did cross her mind and she hoped she was right, that HB was worried about what had recently happened, but she didn't dare ask in case she aggravated the teacher.

When Mildred returned to her bedroom after another day's work, she checked the place she had chosen to hide the mysterious spellbook she'd found in the early morning. She'd been asking herself where it had come from, had someone dropped it off. But why would they leave it here, was it by accident? Mildred studied the book at her desk. It didn't seem dangerous, but she had enough experience of magic already to know that even the most innocent object could hide a trap, and after sitting on a cursed broomstick, courtesy of Ethel Hallow, Mildred was not in the mood to be tricked so soon. After a few minutes of checking it, Mildred decided it seemed alright; she wished she had a better way of being sure, and was tempted to rush to the library and find a spell book there that could tell her if something was dangerous, but she didn't dare leave the room. It would be curfew soon, and Miss Hardbroom could probably be prowling around. But still she was curious about why someone would just leave a book of magic in her room like this. None of the spells listed in the pages were anything like the ones she learnt on a daily basis, but still she'd try a few tonight and if they seemed dangerous then she'd hand it in to Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom in the morning. Yeah, a good plan. She wouldn't even need to tell them where it came from or how long she'd had it. Hopefully.

Mildred sighed and examined a few of the pages, and found what looked like a straightforward spell for lighting up a candle. Seems basic enough, she thought. Most of the lights in the school looked electrical, but it was actually magic. Surprise, surprise. But each bedroom had a candle, just in case something happened, however unlikely, to the main lights. Miss Gullet might have found something concerning 'health and safety' to complain about, but Mildred didn't care. She got the candle out and gently placed the holder onto the floor before sitting down. After shivering a little bit on the hard cold stone floor, Mildred wasn't comfortable until she was cross legged. She took a deep breath, pushing aside the worry she'd get this wrong, and concentrated.

Extending a hand, she said clearly and softly, "Forbærne!" And visualised the candle being lit.

She gasped when the candle lit up! She had just gotten a spell right on the first try. Oh, Mildred had performed magic before, but with varying degrees of risk and success, you only had to ask Ethel to know that. Smiling at the candle, Mildred blew out the flame and recast the spell. She had to make sure this wasn't some cruel fluke. Another "Forbærne!" and the same result. The candle was lit. Still basking in the pleasure she had cast a spell correctly, Mildred found another spell, similar to the one she had just cast, and decided to give it a chance. She knew she was pushing her luck but she was enjoying herself.

"Bryne," she cast. The candle lit up again. Mildred flicked through the book, knowing now she was looking at elemental magic, one of the most basic forms of magic taught at Cackles. But in the book all of the spells were listed. Ah, she found what she was looking for and cast her next spell.

"Færblæd wawe," on the candle, and a gust of wind blew out the flame. Mildred stood up awkwardly, wincing at the feeling as she stood up from the cold stone floor, and paced the room slowly, thoughtfully. She had just cast three spells and they had all worked. Mildred sat down on the bed, thinking about what she had done. It was so much to take in, knowing that she could do magic. Her first thought was to, naturally, tell the whole school and show them what she could do. But she quickly decided against it. Her new book might be taken from her.

Heading over to the desk she flicked through the book, and found another spell. She extended her hand towards the sketchpad on the desk and cast a new incantation, already looking forwards to the results. "Inbringe cume mec," she said clearly and the pad levitated, but she gasped and the pad dropped back down onto the desk when she lost concentration. But Mildred didn't care, she had just noticed something she hadn't expected, something about her eyes. Was it the light? Mildred cast the spell again, keeping one eye on the pad and the other on her mirror. She gasped again, she'd known she'd thought she saw something. Excitedly she rushed over to the candle holder and picked it up and brought it back over to the desk.

"Bryne," she said, seeing the same thing before she cast the wind spell, "Faerbaed wawe," and extinguished the flame. All that time she kept an eye on the mirror.

Yes! She'd thought it was there. Her eyes were turning yellowish gold whenever she cast a spell. How could that be? Was it something unique to this form of magic? Why didn't the magic taught here at school do the same thing? Mildred decided to cast one more spell before she went to bed. She held her hand out towards one of the pencils she used for drawing, and said, "Cæga cume her." The pencil came to her to rest in the palm of her hand.

"Amazing," she whispered, putting the pencil back and then picked up her new spell book and looked around the room for a better hiding place for the book. The desk and wardrobe were too obvious, she decided, so she would use her mattress. She studied the bed for a moment, trying to work out how she was going to do this. If she just hid it in one of the corners, someone would only need to lift it up and find the book. Actually, after a few more minutes of checking and thinking, she realised the mattress wasn't the best place either.

Pursing her lips Mildred looked around the room, and then she smirked.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2 The Letter from 'M'

The mystery of where the spell book came from was more or less resolved when Mildred retrieved the book from the hiding place and flicked through the pages, and a white paper envelope fell out. Mildred was surprised by the sight of the letter, realising she hadn't really bothered to do a search for either a letter or a note. It didn't matter. When she opened the letter, she read it out aloud in a whisper.

 ** _"Dear Mildred, I know this letter will probably seem badly written but I tried drafting it 9 times before deciding my earlier copies were too long and boring, so I decided to write this final version. I am writing to tell you about the copy of the book containing spells and enchantments from the Old Religion. Well, I gave it to you, I slipped it into your bed as you slept during the night. I gave this book to you because I have been watching you for your entire life, so I know you're now a student at Cackles academy; good school, but it's resources for teaching girls who come from the non magical world are limited. I'm sorry that you have been treated so poorly by your peers since magic is magic and if you have such an amazing gift then you should be accepted, but I'm afraid that they have probably never really interacted with other children outside their cosy world. I can probably guess what your reaction is after learning someone entered your room and have been watching you, but please don't worry. I would never harm you nor your mother. Please keep reading this letter despite what ever feelings of anger or shock that someone has been spying on you. Yes, I watched you but from afar but its not what you think. Let me explain._**

 ** _"As you're probably aware by now Cackles academy teachers students about the Craft, which has been in existence for a long time, but legends going back even further say the Craft is actually a derivative of an older religion. A much more powerful one which had governed all magic on Earth. My mentor, Gaius, helped to teach me about the Old Religion and he gave me the very same book you currently have. Please do not damage it and don't let anyone touch or damage it. The book was one of my most prized possessions, and before that it was Gaius's. It's one of the few things I have left of him. I gave it to you because you, Mildred Hubble, are not meant to practice the Craft but the magic of the Old Religion. When you were born, I felt the Old Religion rejoice. I have often felt it whenever a witch or wizard, or a normal person had the gift of using it was born, but you are unique. Your power is greater than their's. You might be doubtful, but its the truth and you'll soon realise that I'm right._**

 ** _"You were born with the power of the Old Religion, which is very rare nowadays and few witches and wizards who practice the Craft are able to practice the spells and magical arts of the Old Religion, in fact few of them are able to cast even the most basic spell, and that is one of the reasons why your magic does not work well with the magic you're currently taught by the teachers of that school you're in. While you can perform Craft spells, you will either have them go wrong because the magic itself is incompatible with your magic. It's usually the reverse for anyone who tries to cast the same type of magical spells you're currently practicing with. For the people who have the ability to cast spells of the Craft well enough they can only cast spells of the Old Religion to a limited degree or not at all. You, hopefully, are a special case. The Old Religion is completely different, and you should be better at the casting of spells of this form of magic than you are with the Craft. It has nothing to do with your lack of knowledge of magical culture - many magical families expend a lot of time training their children for the day they will walk in the hallowed halls of the schools one or both of their parents were sent to. It's been a tradition for thousands of years. Like I have said I have been watching you, so I do know how you have been treated, your history and background ridiculed. They have no right to persecute and victimise you because you were not born like they were._**

 ** _"I myself am a warlock. In the terms of the Old Religion I would be classed as a wizard, not a sorcerer. The difference - a sorcerer has to learn and study magic in order to use it, a warlock is born with their magic. Modern day wizards and witches are born with their powers, but people can study the Craft. It has happened, though it is very rare because not many wizards or witches wish their knowledge to be misused. But YOU are a WITCH, don't listen to fools like the Great Wizard. Pompous idiot. You just have a different magic to his, that's all. And that is not a crime. Ada Cackle herself believes you have potential as a witch, and you do but not as the type of witch she is used to seeing. There is nothing wrong with being different - I know how you feel, I felt much the same way when I learned more about my powers and who I was. You are not unwelcome in the world, regardless what people might say. Soon, everyone will know that._**

 ** _"Please continue to study the magic of the Old Religion, it will help you, and because the spells are more powerful you'll probably find casting Craft based spells easier than before - of course I could be wrong but try anyway, I myself have been working with both forms of magic for years but the effects aren't really worth the effort. But with you it might be different because we are not the same people. Take care when using this book, many of the spells are dangerous. Keep practicing, try to say the incantations in your mind as well._**

 ** _"I hope to meet you soon, and please try to find out as much about the Old Religion as you can. It's a good way to find out things on your own rather than simply letting me tell you. Also - DO NOT SHOW THIS LETTER OR THE BOOK TO ANYONE UNLESS NECESSARY! There are too many people out there, powerful people who don't already understand how dangerous these spells can be. They are just too greedy and stupid to use their common sense and leave well enough alone._**

 ** _Good luck, M."_**

Who was M? Mildred read through the letter a few times, it wasn't the most informative letter she'd ever read in her life but at least she had a few answers to the mystery on her mind. Unfortunately, she was left with more questions on her mind than before. But the thought of someone other than HB coming into her room was terrifying, it was a violation of her privacy, but it was the implication the same someone had been watching her all her life because of her different magic scared her. Mildred had grown up hearing her mother telling her to be careful, but all those stories in the news about kids being stalked by pedophiles had come out of horror movies.

That was what scared her most about this, and it made her hesitate when it came to the book. Mildred didn't like the thought of being even more different from the other girls.

It was frustrating and painful to have to listen to HB and Ethel talk about how Cackle's should only be for magical girls from magical families, though HB had tuned it down over the weeks she'd been at the school, resolving to be more professional but it was still there, it was there whenever she spoke, the way she criticised Mildred for the smallest things. Sometimes she wondered if it was worthwhile, being here and being bullied for something she could not control. And yet this book could change all that, make people see she could do magic.

After such a chaotic week where she'd taken a potion and become an older woman - god, she'd never imagined she would look like that and she truly hoped when she reached the age of 'Miss Darkside' she would truly be wiser and more experienced than she had been when she'd taken on the disguise- and became a supply teacher, Mildred was ready to look up something, anything about the Old Religion. It had been a close call, how Ethel and Drusilla had cooked up a scheme to call her mum, how she'd walked into Cackle's office in her pyjamas (god, what had she been thinking? Oh, right - she had been preparing to confess.) Still Mildred had learnt another lesson - don't take shortcuts. The good news that had come out of that mess was Drusilla had gotten into trouble for impersonating Cackle and calling Julie. What had she been thinking? While Ethel might have been an A star student and the apple of HB's eye, she really didn't think through her plans that well. Then again she was no better.

Anyway, after she'd thought through her options after reading the letter Mildred had decided to simply carry on reading through the book and practicing with it. But it wasn't until the weekend when there weren't any lessons and the pupils were given the opportunity to have free time for personal projects, homework or just leisure time for those who had the time that Mildred finally had the chance to explore the library and find what she needed. Enid, Maud, the entire first year class were studying up for a potions lesson on Monday, and an essay was due in along with it. The essay and the test would go with the general grades of the class. Mildred had no intention of following Enid's laidback lead, not this time, not so soon after the Miss Darkside incident. Miss Hardbroom wasn't her biggest fan, and Mildred desperately wanted the woman to at least acknowledge some of the effort she put into the work she handed in. It was a tall order, but Mildred was prepared to do whatever it took. Mildred had worked this latest batch of homework out - she would study up in the library, write out the essay and use the potions books there to see if there was anything else to add whilst reading ahead to see if there was any way she could improve her skills. But she would also use the time to find books on Magical History that featured anything on the Old Religion. Keeping in her mind from reading the letter M had sent her, Mildred didn't tell her friends anything. The hard part was deceiving them without them becoming suspicious - Mildred knew she was great at storytelling but she had needed to come up with a better cover story.

* * *

After dinner on Saturday, Mildred laughed with her friends before she checked the time and stood up. "I need to head back to the library," she announced to Maud and Enid.

"What for?" Enid asked, her brow crunching in confusion.

"I want to double check the potions essay I'm writing for Monday. I don't want this essay to be screwed up, it would really mean a lot if I can get any other letter than D in HB's classes," Mildred said with ease. It was the truth, but she wanted to get to the history section without either Maud or Enid knowing. She wanted so much to let them in on her secret, but she couldn't risk it just yet.

Maud nodded, "Okay Millie, how much do you need to do?"

Mildred shrugged. "I don't know just yet. I'll know when I get on with it. The good news is I know which book I need. See ya."

After saying goodbyes for now Mildred left the hall and headed off in the direction of the library, nodding and exchanging smiles with whoever she passed and entered the library. She checked the potions section first in case the book she knew was relevant was not there. Luckily for her it was so she picked it out and headed on to the history section. Mildred had spent enough time in the library over the weekend to get some idea of which of the books in the history might or might not have something on the Old Religion. Fortunately she'd had enough time over the last week to go through their indexes and had checked how many of the books just included the Old Religion as footnotes or in just one specific paragraph. Disappointingly there were quite a few with those, so Mildred just left them alone for now though she knew she might not have a choice but to take out one. Logically Mildred knew she could and should have asked for help from the librarian, but she wasn't sure if it was wise; she didn't know what the general views on the Old Religion were and she didn't want to test her luck.

It took Mildred half an hour to find the right book, a massive tome that contained quite a few chapters on the Old Religion, and after briefly flicking through the pages she was sure it was better than nothing. After checking both books out Mildred returned to her bedroom, and after briefly checking to see if her spell book was still there, which it was, Mildred got to work. She first began with the essay in case one of her friends came in and found her lounging around. She had plenty of time, of course, but hey if she wanted to put in some effort then she would have to play the part.

After 20 minutes of studying the potions book Mildred wanted to stop, but she didn't. Mildred was excited because she would soon learn more about this mysterious Old Religion and why it was so special. Plus it might give her insights into who this 'M' person was. She continued writing the essay, knowing the history book would still be there waiting for her, but knew this was another draft copy. For the next 2 hours Mildred read the potions book and adopted one of Maud's techniques to learning. Whenever homework came up Maud would read the right books and take notes and use them for revision. It was a time consuming task and sometimes boring as a chore, but Mildred thought it was a good one. Besides it might impress Miss Hardbroom who was never easily impressed if she saw how seriously Mildred was taking her studies. As she finished writing the essay draft an hour later, she rechecked the potions book and made several notes on improvement before she rewrote several parts of it. Mildred had plenty of time to finish the essay, and she would use that time but she knew she wasn't going to get the chance tonight. After spending another hour making draft copies of the rewritten notes she could use improve the finished essay on, and other paragraphs and new notes copied from the potions book, Mildred put her work to one side. She would write the finished copy in the morning and she took a deep breath and headed over to the bed and began to read through the history book. She had a different book to study. Within minutes she let her imagination run wild in ways the science of potions never could, but her imagination soon conjured up images she did not like.

Mildred wasn't sure what she'd expected when she began to read but as the picture in her mind grew she didn't like where her imagination took her, the history book made learning about the Old Religion really compelling reading. Like it's name suggested, the Old Religion was a type of religion, but it was much more than that, and it wasn't as one sided as the average modern day religion seemed. nThe first thing she learnt about the Old Religion was it wasn't your average worship - the book went into a lot of detail about the type of rituals the High Priests and High Priestesses in its honour, rituals that involved living sacrifices but unlike the Aztec and other early religions Mildred had learnt about in school which didn't make any real difference, the Old Religion actually allowed those trained in such arts, training which took many years of study. But the interesting thing about the Old Religion was it was a philosophy of balance between people and creatures and elements of the universe which needed to be preserved. It's heart was the most important balance of all, that of life and death which was taken very seriously. On Samhaim eve High Priestesses would gather at the Isle of the Blessed and they'd sacrifice a human being to tear open the veil separating the living and dead. And in the event of an unjust death brought on by one of their own, then the Druids would prepare shrines to appease the spirits. And if disturbed, the shrines would release the spirits and seek revenge. Mildred felt that was a fair thing.

But the history of the Old Religion was turbulent. It was both at once peaceful and yet corrupt, with various sorcerers and members of the leadership vying for supremacy because they believed their power should be used for certain practices. But everything changed when King Uther Pendragon, father of the legendary King Arthur - why he was included Mildred couldn't work out, but she quickly found out when she read that Uther had met with the High Priestess Nimueh to ask for his barren wife Ygraine de Bois to have a child with the help of magic. Mildred began feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach, already guessing nothing good had come of this story.

Nimueh had claimed that it was possible, but to create a life or save one, another must die to preserve the balance. Uther had agreed but he had misinterpreted what the high priestess told him and he'd accepted, and his wife died in childbirth. Arthur survived but Uther, driven mad with rage and grief, blamed magic to cover his own involvement in her death. He blamed all magic for his wife's death, declared it evil and began a terrible campaign where thousands of people and creatures who practiced magic were wiped out whilst passing law upon law which made it virtually impossible to practice any kind of magic without retribution. According to the book she was reading some of the practitioners gave up using magic to protect themselves against Uther's rampage, but not all of them followed this lead. That didn't surprise Mildred since there would always be some.

Mildred read with horror the number of people who died was virtually uncountable, but whoever had written the book had described how families were torn apart no matter what type of magic they practiced, whether it was black magic to simply brewing potions. Children were killed by the knights who dragged them to their deaths, all because their parents were sorcerers and had just begun to teach their offspring a few basic spells. Mildred felt tears prickling in her eyes at the thought of children being murdered simply because a King had not bothered to truly understand the ins and outs of magic and the consequences of using it. She closed her eyes, picturing a number of knights dividing a path all the way to a pyre, holding away the masses of screaming, jeering peasants who laughed at the sight of children, some as young as babies, being dragged towards the fire. Mildred bit her lip as the vision in her head continued, and the knights threw the screaming children into the flames with the sound of their screams meeting the cries of happiness at seeing 'evil magic users' die, whilst above a stone faced man looked on, knowing he was finally getting revenge for the death of his wife while knowing deep inside it was his fault.

As much as she hated to admit it, she could understand Uther's anger towards magic since he was inwardly angry at himself, but she could also see that the high priestess who'd helped him had a point by saying there was a balance between life and death. She felt physically sick reading how the knights of Camelot had ridden everywhere and hunted down sorcerers or even the peaceful druids. As a child, Mildred had heard stories of the nobility of knights, brave men who rode on horses and faced all kinds and fought bravely and with courage. But now….Mildred saw them the way sorcerers and druids had seen them, as murderous men who hid their evil beneath a veneer of gallantry and courageous integrity. The Great Purge swept across the lands, there had been similar actions in the past but never on this scale and while a few of the other kingdoms who rivalled Camelot followed the same actions because they feared the repercussions of the sorcerers and other magical creatures rising up and becoming a potent threat in the future it was Camelot that caused the most bloodshed. Uther took his time with it though he went as far as to wipe out the dragons except for one. While Uther was a cold hearted tyrant he wasn't stupid - he had compiled lists of the people who were the most dangerous, and he had hadn't rushed the purge. He slaughtered the Dragonlords, people who could speak and control the dragons because he felt the power was too close to magic, but he needed one of them to help him. Uther shamelessly lied to the Dragonlord, telling him he had wanted to make peace, and had the last dragon imprisoned beneath his castle as an example. The Dragonlord managed to escape, bitter about what had happened, and fled. Mildred read with astonishment that the Dragonlord met a peasant woman in a village far from Camelot and they gave birth to the boy who would become Merlin.

For 20 years Uther Pendragon shamelessly continued to slaughter anyone with magic, not seeing if they were good or bad because in his twisted view they were all evil regardless, continuously preaching that magic was evil, that magic corrupted even the best person, and all that time he fed his son Arthur this poisonous view of the world. Arthur grew up hearing about the evils of magic while watching people be killed, some of them younger than he was.

Mildred shook her head as she read that. Yes, she knew witches who weren't good people. Look at Agatha Cackle, she had tried to use her power and magical knowledge to take control of the school twice, and once had ordered Mildred to fly on a broomstick knowing it would be cursed. Miss Gullet had shamelessly turned a wizard into a frog simply because she'd wanted a job at the academy. Ethel Hallow was a bully who was opportunistic and never missed or hesitated in making her life a misery. But there were good people who used magic - Maud, Enid, Mr Rowan-Webb, and Miss Bat to name a few. But what about outside magical society itself? How could Uther believe that ordinary people like himself were any better? Hadn't there been rulers and other people who had had some form of power and misused it? When you looked at it in both worlds power did and could corrupt people, but would the same happen to her? Mildred had never seen herself as the type of person to lord it over others if she had some special talent, but could she possibly prove Uther's point? She swallowed, but her fear turned to her mother. Julie Hubble had raised her to be a good person, but could she suddenly forget all that and become someone her mother would find repulsive? Bile rose up in her throat and Mildred had to swallow at the very notion one day she could do something that would make her mother hate her, and it made her physically ill to even contemplate it.

She wanted to stop reading. She'd learnt enough about the Old Religion she'd figured, but she forced herself to keep reading the book even though she wanted to throw the whole thing into a corner and forget about it.

Merlin appeared in Camelot and he was told about his destiny to help Arthur usher in the foundation of Albion. He was told this by the dragon underneath the city, and he quickly fell into it. Mildred wasn't interested in the types of things Merlin had to do to protect Arthur - they were mostly a collection of angry sorcerers who wanted revenge against the Pendragon family for their crimes against magic - Mildred found herself sympathising with them and wished Merlin had let them carry out their revenge since Uther, and Arthur to a limited extent, deserved a bit of pain for all that they had pushed onto others. She found herself believing they needed a bit of humbling after being so arrogant and complacent. Mildred was a little disappointed Merlin had accepted the humble position of a servant to Arthur though she could see why since as a servant he could do a lot more than if he'd been something else; she'd always imagined the man having a larger than life role, not as someone who preferred doing things behind the scenes. Her view of the man was further tarnished by the fact he'd had to hide his secret from Arthur for a decade and it wasn't until the man was stabbed with an enchanted sword that he revealed his secret to the king. But what made it worse in Mildred's eyes was that Merlin made two very big mistakes; he had been told by the dragon that both Mordred, who wasn't Arthur's son as was the popular belief in the non-magical world, but was in fact a druid boy who'd had to endure the pain of his mentors' death and Morgana who was actually Uther's secret daughter and Arthur's half sister would eventually join together to kill Arthur.

In the case of Mordred - Mildred was amazed by the amount of historical detail and realised someone, probably Merlin, had told the story and the more she read it the more she believed her theory held water - Merlin had rescued but eventually pushed away the boy and when the boy became a man Merlin still refused to have anything to do with him despite the younger man's attempts to become friends. Worse, Merlin betrayed Mordred when a friend of his, another druid, was killed on Arthur's orders. No wonder the druid was angry enough to join Morgana, sealing Arthur's fate. Merlin regretted that, but Morgana's story was just as tragic and the more Mildred read the story the more she sympathised with the woman who had endured so much pain and betrayal, but her sympathy was limited when she read about the amount of death and pain she repaid everyone ten fold. It was bad enough Uther had lied to her, telling her she was the daughter of one of his deceased friends, but she was born with magic. That was something Mildred had quickly discovered about magicians who practiced the Old Religion; they all seemed to need to learn how to cast the spells and study them in order to gain magical powers, but Morgana and Merlin were among a growing trend of people who were born with their magic. But where Merlin was in the presence of a loving but protective mother who told him to always hide his magic, Morgana was in the lion's den. She didn't even know about her magic until when she was an adult, but she was probably terrified. Mildred _didn't_ know for sure if Uther would've killed her for having magic, but Morgana had believed he _would kill her and wouldn't_ care if she was his flesh and blood.

But when Morgana met Merlin the two became friends, and that friendship was tarnished by the dragon telling Merlin she would join with Mordred and bring about Arthur's demise. But from what Mildred read Morgana had once been a kind, compassionate soul who hated Uther's need to spill blood, and she had cared for a young Mordred when the boy was trapped in Camelot and helped him get out. Merlin didn't believe at the time either of them would be capable of killing Arthur. But even Merlin would have needed to be blind to have ignored the fact Morgana nursed a burning loathing for Uther, a loathing which grew when Morgause appeared. Mildred breathed out a slow steady sigh. Morgause had managed to survive the purge, smuggled out as an infant, and raised in the ways of the Old Religion. Morgause was apparently Morgana's sister, and slowly began manipulating the other woman to her way of thinking. This was around the time Morgana discovered her powers, but instead of helping her an indecisive Merlin simply chose to follow the supposed advice of those who claimed Morgana was evil, was dangerous and pushed her further and further down the dangerous path which would lead to Arthur's demise in the first place.

"You fool," Mildred whispered scornfully, "you blind, stupid, fool!"

She didn't care if the dragon was wise, that he could see and hear things Merlin couldn't grasp. That didn't mean he was automatically right, and besides nothing in her mind was written in stone unless you actually began to chisel away. Merlin poisoned Morgana when she was the cause of a sleeping spell which worked like a disease on Camelot, allowing Morgause to invade the city. The two sisters escaped and Morgana was effectively brainwashed into hating her former friends and was trained to use her magic. When Morgause died she became the high priestess. Mildred sighed and rubbed her eyes, guessing that Morgana would want to take over Camelot. Where had she heard this before? Oh yeah, the rivalry between Agatha and Ada Cackle, the grief put upon Esmerelda Hallow by Ethel who was younger than her by two years. Why did the magical world make everything so predictable?

After reading how Morgana's actions forced the unfortunate Merlin to remain in hiding, a situation made worse when Uther died apparently of magic which made Arthur see magic was evil, which it wasn't since magic was a power, it was only how people used it that made it either good or bad, Mildred read how Merlin killed Morgana successfully, but was unable to save Arthur who was stabbed by Mordred with a sword specially imbued with powerful magic and was soon bound to the Lake of Avalon, Excalibur thrown into the same lake to be protected by the Lady of the Lake. Well, that story was true, then again Mildred had no need to doubt it.

Arthur had died leaving his queen alive, but things changed after that. Merlin's power was revealed and so too were the stories that told the truth of the events surrounding Camelot since his arrival. Everyone seemed alright, despite the understandable outrage and predictable mistrust shown to him because of the lies he'd told for so many years. But still while magic came back it wasn't the result Merlin hoped for, too many lives had been lost due to his actions and bad decisions which caused more harm than good to say nothing for the chaos caused by Morgana. But then Mildred realised something about Merlin - he might have been the most powerful, legendary sorcerer ever to live, yes, but he was still human, therefore he would make mistakes. He wasn't infallible, no one was. She pitied him.

After seeing Morgana and Arthur die, Merlin watched as magic returned, but few people knew how to use it properly. Seeing this problem, he worked with Queen Guinevere and some of the surviving experienced sorcerers and druids into the foundation of magical schools or academies. These academies would be shielded from the outside to prevent anything like the Great Purge happening again, and were hidden except to those who practiced magic. And that was how the schools of magic came into being. At first these students learnt about the Old Religion and there were dozens of children who were being born with their powers. Merlin and the other sorcerers created scrying techniques which made it easier to find them, and even Mildred who didn't really follow logic could see it was a good way to ensure the children were safe. Uther might have been one man, but his poison had reached the minds of many, and even before that there were probably dozens who envied and feared magic before and after Uther had even thought of starting a purge in the first place.

What was it Yoda had said in the first prequel film of the Star Wars series? Oh yeah. "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." How right he was. So much suffering caused by the fear and anger of magic, and Mildred was not stupid enough to not believe that Uther inwardly feared the power people like Nimueh wielded. And he wasn't the only one. The foundation of magical schools was a good idea since it would allow young children to learn to use their powers and in safety without needing to worry about arrogant monarchs. Besides when Guinevere died it was likely her stance and protection of magic would be overruled or some king or queen with delusions of grandeur would repeat Uther's mistakes and Merlin believed everyone should be ready after seeing how magic was persecuted.

But Merlin and the other sorcerers had problems of their own. The history book didn't go into too much detail but it described how the students felt the Old Religion change, like it was evolving but to Merlin and the sorcerers it was like the Old Religion was passing away. To prevent it dying out they changed their spells into the type of spells used by the Craft. It was obvious no one had any idea why the Old Religion suddenly did this, not when so many children were being born with magic, but - Hold on, was that it? An idea came to Mildred's mind, one so revolutionary she could barely believe or comprehend it herself. She needed a few minutes to get to grips with it herself, but it seemed right to her.

In the years before Merlin and Morgana, people who followed the Old Religion, not creatures like trolls or sidhe which were mentioned in the book, had to study magic. Why when they could be born with it? Was it the Old Religions' way of picking who was the most committed to learning it, and then giving it like it was a reward, or did the Old Religion see them as powerful servants? It was a balance which had been thrown out of sync when people began to be born with its powers. And before Merlin and the others who were born suddenly with magical powers these people's abilities were regulated by their ability to learn the ways, but when Merlin and Morgana were born because of destiny that regulation was thrown out, and potentially dangerous magical beings were coming along. Was that why the Old Religion faded, because it could no longer cope with the power needs of people suddenly born with its power? With Merlin and Morgana and a few others it wasn't a problem - it was only two people, but even then sorcerers were suddenly being born with magic. And like a bridge unable to take the strain, the Old Religion couldn't cope, but Mildred had the feeling that it was like a creature trying and struggling to adapt to a new situation. It was alright with the Craft - it was supposed to have people born using its powers, and it wasn't as though the Old Religion had truly died, it had simply been moved on somehow and less powerful derivatives took its place. Mildred read how the Pagan religion, the Voodoo religion took its place and produced many powerful sorcerers though not as powerful as the ones which had come before, and in America settlers who practiced the Craft met with Native American Indians and mingled to create the powerful Wiccan religion, which according to the book was the closest version of the Old Religion in the modern world.

Mildred closed the book and stood up, wincing from the cramp which had developed after a long time sitting reading, and she looked out of the window and saw it was late. Alarmed she checked the time and saw to her relief she still had time before she needed to get to bed, but her mind was still over taken by what she'd just read and what she'd just realised. After dumping the history book down on her desk, she walked over to the window and sat down on the stone edge and looked out. It was definitely shaping up for a beautiful night, full of mystery, but Mildred didn't see it then. Why was the Old Religion returning after so long? Where had it been all these years or had it simply been there, behind the scenes waiting to return? Who was this mysterious 'M' character who'd given her that book without her knowing? It was obvious he knew what had happened to the Old Religion, but did he have the same realisation she'd just had about it and why the Craft took over? But more importantly, would she actually meet this 'M'? She hoped so, but she wasn't sure if it would actually happen.

Mildred continued to watch the night, and she stayed like that until she realised she had to get ready for bed. But as she got undressed she wondered what would happen now. She knew now about the Old Religion's chaotic history, of the tragic stories of King Arthur's reign, of Uther's tyrannical shadow as he purged his lands of magic. What would happen now? And then a thought occurred to her. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, M, I know about the Old Religion now. I know now it caused both joy and pain, so what happens now?" she said. She hoped that whoever her mysterious watcher was, he would soon meet her.

* * *

"Are you guys ready for that potions test?" Maud asked as the girls filed outside the potions classroom, her hands rustling the potions essay she had in her hands. Mildred looked down at the final neat copy of her essay, and nodded, trying to feel brave besides the butterflies in her stomach. She hated potions because every time she tried to work under HB's steely gaze she got something wrong. It didn't help there were others in the class determined to make life difficult for her and the others.

Enid, seeming to sense how nervous the other girls were feeling, grinned, "I aced the essay. It was hard at first, but I think I've done it." Her statement gave Mildred a little courage despite her nerves. "I spent 5 hours writing all of them together; a few draft copies, revisions and notes-"

Unfortunately Ethel who'd been overhearing interrupted. "And we're supposed to be impressed by that, Mildred Hubble? Let's face it, you won't get a good grade. You may as well tear that essay up right here and now." Mildred's breathing became slower and harsher as anger rose inside her. Ethel had been more snappish towards her recently, more than usual since the Great Wizard's visit. But it got worse when a positively evil expression crossed Ethel's face. "Actually, why don't I help you, Mildred, and save Miss Hardbroom the time to read the pathetic words of a girl who shouldn't even be here and be called a witch?"

Mildred couldn't believe Ethel and wondered if somehow magic and her heritage meant she couldn't find any new material, and she reacted instinctively when the other girl cast a spell of red light, aimed at her essay, and a free hand went up with her mind thinking of a shield spell incantation. She had reacted instinctively to the attack, she was sure that the Old Religion's magic was more greater and more powerful than that of the Craft's spells, but she hadn't tested it against the spells she'd learnt. It didn't help matters that she hadn't told anyone what she was studying to get some help, this would be the first time she showed anyone what she could do.

Ethel and Drusilla backed away in surprise when they saw the spell impact against the shield spell. Mildred kept her hand up, her face low so no-one could see her eyes figuring the less people knew the better. Finally, she dropped her hand, thinking the danger was gone. But Drusilla suddenly grinned and fired a spell of her own, Mildred threw a hand up just in time, but not quick enough. She cried out in pain the spell singed her wrist, hissing as her skin sizzled. Enid grabbed hold of her friend while Maud stepped in front, both girls not hiding their fear and astonishment over how quickly things had spiralled out of control. Fortunately Miss Hardbroom appeared between them, looking furious. But her fury was directed against Drusilla and Ethel. Mildred was mildly surprised, she'd always seen HB as the biased type. Maybe she was wrong to some extent. Either way she didn't care, she was just glad she wasn't in the line of sight, this time.

"Enough. Drusilla, detention with me tonight, Ethel you will hand in 700 lines, "I will not destroy my classmates work" and let me tell you something," she leaned in closer and whispered in such a deadly voice both girls felt as though the air itself was a piece of ice sharpened by a whetstone to make it even colder and sharper. Mildred paid it no mind, she cast a healing spell she'd found in the book hoping it would work, "the pair of you, I don't care where you got the impression you had the right, but at Cackle's every girl is entitled to the right to study magic without your permission. Now get inside, and don't you dare ever use magic in such a disgraceful manner again!"

All of the girls quickly rushed into the potions classroom, but Miss Hardbroom stopped Mildred from walking inside. The stern woman studied the girl for a second, clearly debating with herself before she gestured to the injured wrist. "Let me see that wrist, Mildred," she ordered.

Mildred held up her wrist. The only reason the spell had hurt her was because it was like a fireball, and while the worst of it had been dissipated by her shield spell, it had still gotten in and hurt her. To make matters worse the healing spell hadn't worked, so it was still there. Hardbroom's face showed something she had never seen the woman exhibit. Concern. Calmly, the potions mistress took Mildred's wrist, mindful of how sensitive the skin was, and mentally noted the presence of powerful magic which had clear healing properties, but hadn't worked. Hecate closed her eyes, concentrating on the magic and realised she didn't recognise it but knew it was extremely powerful and could only be done by a witch saying or thinking an incantation. But who had done it? Hecate pushed that thought aside, deeming it unimportant for the time being, and focused instead of helping Mildred, and she cast a healing spell of her own.

Mildred breathed a sigh of relief when the stinging died down. Miss Hardbroom let go of her, and pointed to the door, "Get inside, and Mildred I would like to speak to you after the lesson. Understood."

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred replied and hurried inside.

After reassuring her friends she was okay - Enid was amazed she'd performed a shield spell so effortlessly, and believed it was instinct - Mildred concentrated on the lesson. Potions was her idea of hell and she wanted to be prepared for anything. Miss Hardbroom took a deep breath and gazed around the room, her eyes harder than rock and her voice as sharp as tempered steel. "Nothing, I repeat nothing, gives any of you the right to destroy other students hard work." Mildred blinked, she hadn't expected the woman to add anything else to what had been said outside. Clearly she was wrong. Miss Hardbroom carried on, "You are all here to learn how to perform and understand magic and you will do so in a mature manner. You are no longer children in the sense your parents will coddle you. If I see, or hear, that any of you are planning to sabotage others hopes and attempts to learn at this school, you will find out firsthand how little we teachers tolerate such actions. Now, I will be collecting your essays." The girls handed their essays over to Miss Hardbroom as she approached them, knowing that the potions mistress was not in the mood for any fooling around.

Mildred handed her essay over silently, Maud and Enid following her example, and Miss Hardbroom eventually finished and placed the essays in a drawer in her desk and pointed her hand towards the blackboard. Instantly the potions recipe they were going to be working on appeared, and after speaking for a few more minutes she made them get to work. Mildred had copied the notes from the blackboard, word for word and was now scratching them out and marking them with ticks to show she'd followed the instructions to the letter, made sure she did everything she could to make a potion successfully, one that worked.

But she was also busy thinking about the fight that had just happened outside and knew it wouldn't be the end of it; Ethel was so desperate for attention she didn't care what she did or what happened to her or others. Mildred had just lifted her head to check over the instructions she'd copied from the board when she saw Ethel approach her out of the corner of her eye and the other girl hadn't noticed yet she'd been spotted, walking slowly and casually so Miss Hardbroom's usually sharp gaze wouldn't notice, but then the woman was on the other side of the room checking the progress of the other girls which was why she hadn't yet noticed Ethel's approach. Mildred and her friends had moved to the other side of the room just to avoid her.

Surely after being given such a light punishment outside by HB, Ethel wasn't going to get herself into more trouble? Mildred, usually someone who gave people second chances, wasn't in the mood to be too trusting and she couldn't bring herself to care what motivated Ethel into being such a cruel bitch. She tensed, waiting for Ethel to come nearer, a spell entering her mind when she saw the blond girl lift a hand to prepare to throw something…..

"Ethel Hallow, why have you left your cauldron?" Miss Hardbroom said just as two things happened but she was too late to stop, one Ethel had just lobbed what she was carrying, but her aim was slightly off out of shock at hearing HB's voice and secondly Mildred's hand had shot up. The entire class had suddenly jumped at the sound of Hardbroom's voice, and were watching the spectacle. Few of the class barring Miss Hardbroom recognised the shapeless green thing Ethel had just thrown, but knew the blond's endless grudge meant it would not do anything good for Mildred's potion.

Ethel had taken a step back when she saw how effortlessly Mildred held up the potions ingredient with the spell she'd just silently cast before she took a deep breath and casually lifted it out of the air with her hand and dropped it silently on her desk with a thunk, canceling the spell.

"You're pathetic," Mildred said at last, her voice low. Maud and Enid glanced at each other, stunned, seeing their friend look so angry. No, not angry. Furious. Meanwhile Mildred's emotions were surging beneath the surface. She was so tired, so sick and tired of fighting the same seemingly never ending battle with Ethel who simply couldn't grow up. It would be so easy, just use one of the spells she'd learnt in the book and use it on Ethel-No, that was not the person she was. Ethel could pretend to be the best student in their year, and she was morally the worst person with a terrible personality where everyone was a rival, including her elder sister.

"Leave. Me. Alone," Mildred hissed, dragging each word out, and her eyes flashed gold subconsciously to intimidate Ethel into complying, and she took little pleasure when Ethel stepped back with wide eyes, and Miss Hardbroom moved catlike next to the younger girl. Ethel looked desperately into her teachers gaze, guessing correctly she couldn't win this fight, but HB's attention was fixed on Mildred's face. The dark haired girl had retaken her seat, but her attention was still fixed on Ethel and her teachers.

There was something odd in HB's face that was hard for Mildred to decipher, and she had to hide the reflexive swallow. The girl knew the potions mistress had seen her eyes change colour, and she was worried the woman knew what it was. Mildred wasn't sure which would be worse, if Miss Hardbroom recognised the magic she had just used, or believed it to be a quirk only to think it might be more. Finally the teacher nodded to herself, and turned to the still terrified Ethel. "You can now join Drusilla in detention with me tonight," she hissed.

* * *

Now HB knows, what do you think will happen next? Please tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3 New of Mildred's Future

Disclaimer - I don't own any form of the Worst Witch or Merlin, so I'm trying to do something new here with the reboot series. Please leave me some feedback.

News of Mildred's Future.

* * *

"This is very serious, Mildred," Miss Cackle was saying grimly, but it was clear she wasn't angry with Mildred, "I don't mind the fact that you used magic to stop Ethel Hallows actions, what worries me is how close you came to losing control."

Mildred privately thought that if she had lost control of her temper then Ethel Hallow would've been nothing more than a smoking hole in the ground. Personally she thought she'd kept her self control really well, but she wasn't going to say a word about that to the headmistress. She didn't think it was worth the risk. Instead she just sat quietly in the same seat that she sat on whenever she was called to the headmistress's office. She had come to this office so many times, been sent here for the most unfair reasons, that she could paint the room with only a small deviation. Mildred often asked herself why her least favourite teachers sent her here and figured they took a perverse enjoyment in it because then it could be the last day they had to deal with her. There and then Mildred Hubble decided she would give them a lot more grief. "Of course, you realise this means war?" She said in her mind, quoting Bugs Bunny. She stopped that train of thought - she felt the Old Religion was a gift which would make a dream come true for her, she didn't want to waste it because of petty revenge.

After the potions lesson Miss Hardbroom had seemingly changed her mind about speaking to Mildred afterwards to discuss what had gone on in the corridor outside the classroom - Mildred hadn't been looking forwards to that talk, knowing it might be unpleasant, but Miss Hardbroom had half changed her mind and told her to get straight to lessons, promising to find her and take her to Miss Cackle for the talk. Great, another chat with the headmistress; Mildred had nothing against Miss Cackle, it was just she didn't enjoy wasting the woman's time. But Mildred had more or less forgotten about the impending talk with the rest of the lessons on her plate.

By the time lunch came around Mildred had already sat through spells science, chanting, and had flown on her broomstick. Spells science had become a radically different class after Mr Rowan-Webb had taken over from Miss Gullet, but since she'd stolen the job from him all those years ago, Mildred didn't want to get too technical about who the class really belonged too though she knew anyway. Unlike Miss Gullet, Algernon preferred to teach lessons while using the blackboard minimally - he was the type of teacher who preferred to teach by making them actually learn the spell instead of just making them read up about it in a book and then actually say it in class though he made it clear everyone should do that anyway. The classes adored Algernon because he definitely knew his stuff and knew a huge amount about his subject, but he also didn't rule the class the way Miss Gullet had. Every lesson he would go out of his way to make them both fun and interesting. Mr Rowan Webb believed that rigid education techniques could be detrimental, but he employed his method and the traditional methods of running a class. He also played a game, the class would be divided into groups, either twos or threes and they would complete the spell incantations Mr Rowan-Webb started. It was a great test of magical knowledge and it also helped their teacher tell the groups which types of spells they needed to improve upon. Mildred was in two minds about the game, on one hand her magical knowledge wasn't too great compared to girls like Enid or Ethel, and she'd quickly worked out that their families, in fact all of them barring hers, went to great lengths to teach the girls basic spells to help them get through school while leaving enough gaps in the knowledge to be filled up in the school.

But for Mildred it was a chore because she hadn't known about magic and witchcraft until recently, and so she had to study hard. Yeah, she might have adopted the slightly lazy route thanks to Enid when her second best friend arrived at the school, but she had needed to change when the new Spells science teacher expected a great deal. Algernon may have seemed more relaxed when you first met him, but he took his lessons very seriously, and he took it as an insult if you turned up to class without some spell knowledge since he was last seen. He made it clear that everyone, no matter if they were high flying girls like Esmerelda, should spend at least a few hours in the library each week brushing up on their knowledge of spells while he taught them in the classroom as well. When she had first had him as a teacher he had made a speech.

"I don't know where Miss Gullet believed simply teaching you girls a few spells on the blackboard would work, but I'm not her. Spells science is one of the most defining traits of being either a witch or wizard," Mr Rowan Webb had said. " My lessons will be completely different. I want you to push yourselves into being the best you can, but I will not be like either Miss Gullet or Miss Hardbroom and say theory lessons are best, we will be looking at the roots of the spells themselves and learn all we can about them until you can say them in your sleep. I will be conducting tests, giving you homework, and we will be playing spell games so then you can experiment with your magic and improve your spell repertoire. But be warned; I expect all of you to study in this class. Any slackness, any laziness where no-one actually studies, and not only will you miss out because I will dismiss you from this class and inform your families that you simply cannot be bothered to learn. And make no mistake, I will do that. Learning spell science is one of the most important parts of a magical education. Some of you, I know, believe you know spells. You're wrong. There are spells you can only dream of.

"Do not try my patience and do not waste my time and yours by thinking you can get away with laziness." Something about that last statement made Mildred wonder if the new teacher knew about Enid's habit of not studying up and her own mistake in thinking she could get away with it. Another issue with Mildred was the letter she'd found in her bed the other night, how it described how incompatible her magic was with the spells of the Craft. Mildred had come to agree with it, but she could perform some spells so she wasn't completely hopeless. Mr Rowan-Webb also helped her as best as he could, and while she did her best there were some spells she simply couldn't work with. Mildred was surprised that he was so patient with her, but then she remembered he had seen her transform a mouse into a number of objects when she should have just transformed said mouse into a frog. It had been embarrassing for Mildred to receive one-to-one tuition, but she had decided to change all that today when the class began the game, and she was partnered with Maud and Enid. She didn't want to let the man down and make him lose faith with her, something Miss Cackle herself seemed to be losing.

As the class went on Mildred used the spells of the Craft, partly to hide the Old Religion she was practicing but mostly to see if using the Old Religion had in some way made it easier for her magic to work with the Craft. She was surprised when she learnt that she could practice some Craft spells which made playing the game easier for her and her friends, and she was becoming a regular visitor to the library when she wasn't hanging out with her friends, playing with Tabby or simply drawing to study up on the Craft spell books, but there were still some spells she couldn't use despite her attempts to experiment. Mildred had been tempted to use some of the spells of the Old Religion to see if they'd make a difference, but she decided against it unless she felt it was necessary, figuring that she'd already made people like Miss Hardbroom suspicious enough already, and she didn't see any point in making it worse. Mildred had already seen the looks she'd been garnering from her classmates, she didn't want her Spells science teacher to start looking at her as though she were a circus animal which had just appeared out of nowhere in his classroom. Mildred wanted the respect of her peers, not to be treated like a freak, she'd already had to deal with that.

After a really good lesson where she managed to get 12 points for her group, the first years had chanting and then flying before lunch. By then rumours had already begun to circulate around the school about what happened both inside and outside the potions classroom. Mildred was halfway finished when Miss Hardbroom approached their table and told her to get up and come with her to Miss Cackle's office. Miss Cackle looked a little bit grave when she arrived, and after exchanging pleasantries Miss Cackle got down to business.

Mildred didn't know what to say to what Miss Cackle had just said without landing herself into more trouble which she didn't need, she knew she could have done a lot of harm towards Ethel but she couldn't do it since Ethel, to her mind, wasn't worth it - that business with turning her into a pig simply didn't count, not in her mind. She licked her lips, wondering if a part of her, deep down, had wanted to hurt Ethel, to just get her off her back. Finally she decided to speak. "I didn't plan to hurt her, Miss Cackle, really. But I spent 5 hours when you count them up all writing that essay for potions, only for both Ethel and Drusilla to try to destroy it."

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom has already told me how you threw up a shield spell without any hesitation or trouble." Ah, so finally they were getting to the heart of the matter. Took her long enough, Mildred thought to herself. "I'm surprised that you managed to cast that spell nonverbally, Mildred."

For a moment Mildred wondered what Miss Cackle meant before it hit her. Neither Miss Hardbroom or Miss Cackle had faith she could have cast the shield spell at her current level. While she was a little put off that neither teacher, especially the woman who'd given her so many chances believed she could have just done it accidentally, but truthfully she wasn't surprised.

Mildred knew she wasn't the ideal student at the academy, knew she needed to work 3 times harder than the girls who didn't need to prove anything, and she could already tell both of the teachers in the room with her were as shocked as everybody else that she had managed to cast such a powerful spell without needing an incantation. But the worst was to come.

"Miss Hardbroom also told me that your eyes changed colour in the classroom," Miss Cackle said conversationally, but it was obvious both teachers were fishing for information. Mildred bit her lip again, wondering what she could actually tell them. She didn't want to tell them about the spellbook or the letter, didn't want to discuss the Old Religion. And she knew she couldn't just brush it under the carpet as a stroke of luck, neither Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom were that stupid.

"Doesn't that happen often?" Mildred asked, hoping that she sounded like a kid who'd just found something when she already knew the answer but it didn't look like it worked this time, if the unimpressed look Cackle was sending her was anything to go by. A pitcher suddenly went flying in the air, droplets of water already splashing across Mildred's face, and without even thinking about it Mildred held up a hand, willing the pitcher to stay still and the water to stop in mid air. Miss Cackle gaped when she saw Mildred's golden eyes which had flared with magical power. She recognised the power, it brought forth memories Ada hadn't thought of in a long time. But while the old headmistress was cast back into the past, she was still aware of what was taking place in her office.

Mildred had taken the pitcher and managed to catch as much of the spilt water as she could when she released the spell. Ada took note of the girl's anxious face though she bravely tried to hide it. Ada surprised everyone, including herself though she had to admit she needed time to get her thoughts together and she needed to check up on a few things, which she couldn't do with the girl here, when she said, "Alright Mildred. Please get back to your meal. I'll speak to you later. Miss Hardbroom," she added when Hecate was poised to open her mouth and say something, "will you please wait with me, we need to talk. Off you go, Mildred."

"Yes, Miss Cackle," Mildred replied obediently, unable to believe her luck and she didn't even hesitate to leave the office. Hardbroom was bursting and didn't let it out until the girl had left the office.

She immediately rounded on the elderly headmistress, who was now rubbing her eyes. "Ada, why did you send her out?" Hecate demanded, noticing her longtime friend's actions and wondering if she had a headache, something which was becoming frequent with Mildred Hubble attending the school.

Ada pointed her finger towards the door and placed a number of spells on the door and walls to ensure they had privacy. "Did you notice the colour of Mildred's eyes when she froze that pitcher, Hecate?"

Hardbroom huffed impatiently. "Of course I did, I told you about the incident in my classroom. Mildred's eyes were gold then and they were gold now, but I don't understand what it means."

Ada sighed, "Years ago when Agatha and I were attending school, we were acquaintances with a witch who was very special. She was very powerful and gifted with spells, but she had problems with casting some of them because of magical incompatibility. It's a very rare symptom for those who are gifted in using the Old Religion instead of the Craft."

Hecate found herself needing to sit down. "The Old Religion?" she repeated hoarsely. "I thought that had faded centuries ago."

Ada shook her head. "No. It never faded, it merely fell into decline when the Craft took precedence as more and more witches and wizards appeared to be born with their powers. But it never disappeared; many families still celebrate its traditions and the Druidic people still have those who have kept their lineage secure, though their knowledge of it has faded too over the centuries. But the Old Religion is still there and some still have power to wield it on certifiable levels."

Hecate shook her head. This was all too much for her to take in. She hadn't known what to expect when she'd reported what had happened between Mildred and Ethel earlier before and during potions, but she knew powerful magic when she saw it, but she hadn't figured she'd hear about the Old Religion. "And Mildred has that power?" Hecate couldn't hide the scepticism in her voice, and Ada was unsurprised by it either.

"Apparently," Ada sighed looking thoughtful. "I always thought that girl had potential at magic, that time when we tested her after she'd been transformed back from being a frog and she performed a multi transformation spell comes to mind. I've seen many transformation spells over the years, but it is exceedingly rare to see anyone conduct a multi-transformation spell in one go, and she didn't even realise. But she seems to have had the same problem my friend Alice had herself with spells, though there were clear signs of her being a truly powerful witch. She became so frustrated one day that she willed something to happen and her eyes flashed golden yellow, and it was done."

"Extraordinary. And she learnt about the Old Religion?"

"Well, not all of it. When Alice found a text on the Old Religion, a scroll I believe, she was able to cast really powerful spells. She might have found more knowledge of course, but finding actual textbooks on the Old Religion is incredibly rare and exceedingly difficult, though quite a few people have the ability to perform some of the spells it uses better than they can with the Craft. It doesn't help that so many people would dearly love to keep the Old Religion out of the loop."

"Why would they do that?"

"Fear of another Mordred or Morgana appearing," Ada replied grimly, shaking her head, nodding when Hecate reacted at the unexpected use of two of the most evil sorcerers to have ever existed being voiced in such a simple conversation surrounding a girl at their school. "When the Old Religion faded and only a few people were born capable of using it, the council decided to censure how much those people could learn about the Old Religion. They would be given a mentor, a witch or wizard who could use the Old Religion themselves since no-one using the Craft would pose much of a threat, but the official version of the story is that Mordred and Morgana jeopardised the future with their war with King Arthur, showing ordinary people the dangers posed by magic and making them believe that the hateful bigotry that said our way of life was evil and must be destroyed regardless of whether or not we actually hurt them or not, so they couldn't take the risk."

Hecate nodded thoughtfully though she eyed her friend beadily. "It sounds logical, but you said the 'official version' so that means there's an unofficial reason."

Ada nodded sadly. "There is a saying that says power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, its the same with magic. Many people who have high positions in our world always feel threatened by those with the Old Religion because they can't control them. Think of it Hecate, those people have had power for a long time. Do you think they'd want to give it up to someone half or even a quarter of their age because they practice a form of magic which hasn't been truly practiced for a thousand years? Unfortunately, because she used it to defend herself and her eyes flashed gold, Mildred is in serious trouble. The girl has already created waves by being here, a girl from a non witch background attending the academy. Imagine the Great Wizard's reaction when he finds out she knows the Old Religion and is practicing it right now?"

The question was rhetorical, but still the deputy headmistress's hackles rose. Despite some popular opinion and rumour Miss Hardbroom did care about all of her students including Mildred deeply. "Is she in danger?" she hissed dangerously.

Ada chuckled slightly when she saw how protective Hecate was of the girl she spent so much time complaining about, but she sobered up a little on seeing the other woman's expression. "You can relax Hecate, they will not harm Mildred, but they will pay more attention to what she does from now on. The only problem is if Mildred shows any sign of wanting to cause damage and loss of life then the council might see no other choice than to-" she paused, unable to say it, "neutralise her."

Hecate sat down, her eyes wide. She felt physically unwell. Her feelings towards Mildred Hubble were turbulent. Yes, the girl was clumsy, reckless and had a talent for getting herself and others into trouble, but Hecate did care about the girl in her own way. Like Ada, Hecate could see the girl becoming a great and powerful witch. She had the power to get there, and Hecate had felt it. Some witches and wizards had the power to sense the magic of others and gauge their potential, and Mildred had the power to be one of the most powerful witches Cackles had ever taught. And her power was growing everytime Hecate saw her. The problem was the girl usually got things wrong and rarely performed a spell correctly. The word neutralise gave Hecate some really nasty ideas. How could they even think of harming a girl like Mildred?

Ada correctly read her deputy's face and nodded grimly. "If only you and I, and maybe Mildred's friends Enid and Maud, saw her eyes flash gold, maybe we could have made sure it didn't get out and give ourselves more time. Unfortunately, Ethel saw it. I don't really trust that girl Hecate. She may have impressed us when she flew into Cackles for the first time, but she reminds me too much of Agatha with the way she speaks to her elder sister. Esmerelda just wanted to see if she'd settled in, and Ethel treated her badly, to say nothing about her attitude to Mildred and how she went along willingly with what Agatha had wanted her to do with that broomstick during the Great Wizard's visit. That frightened me, Hecate. Ethel just went along with Agatha's plan to kill Mildred, and she didn't even raise the alarm by talking to you. She is that callous. I only hope she has enough sense to not get on Mildred's bad side. The Old Religion has some truly nasty spells, and woe betide anyone if Mildred learns of them, and someone pushes her too far."

"She'll definitely talk, and even if we could get the girls to swear on the Witches code it wouldn't do any good since too much time has passed," Hecate said.

The deputy headmistress didn't like the implication that Mildred could become truly dangerous if she was pushed, and the saying 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' sprang to mind, a strange image when thinking about Mildred Hubble, but she could see her friend's point. Hecate, being a powerful and experienced witch, had heard legends of the Old Religion, and knew that the feats of the high priestesses like Nimueh, Morgause, Morgana, and sorcerers like Merlin and Cornelius Sigan were greater than what modern day witches and wizards could achieve. If Mildred reached their level, there would be little she couldn't do.

The thought of such a powerful witch on their hands made Hecate see the point of view behind the potential fear people might have of the girl if she continued her practice of the Old Religion, though Hecate knew she would; Mildred wanted to be a witch, she had the drive and commitment to want all that, and she became upset whenever she got something wrong. But Hecate knew while she couldn't wield such magic herself, she could help Mildred maintain control, if the girl wanted.

Hecate was also concerned about Ada's views on Ethel Hallow. Unlike Mildred when you looked at her first, Ethel was the polar opposite of the girl, she was already an impressive A+ student, she was exceedingly good at potions and spells, but truly that was because the girl had studied years before she'd arrived at Cackles. The Hallow family had a long standing association with Cackles and it had worked both ways with several generations of witches born from different branches of the family going on into the worlds of government, business, and research into spells and potions with a few entering the world of magical culture and growing it. Such things were good for the prestige of Cackles.

But the problem with Ethel was all she had was years of study, and even Hecate could see that the girl couldn't improvise. And that was the difference between her and Mildred; both girls were powerful, but Mildred's talents went far above Ethel's, but she needed to refine them and that took time and study. So only time would tell which of the two worked hardest. Another problem was Ethel, and even Hecate knew this, had a terrible, terrible personality, and sometimes Hecate wondered what kind of person Ethel would become in a few years time.

Ada agreed with her. "And someone in the school might know enough about the Old Religion to recognise the signs of someone being able to use it. Either way I will have to report this. But first we need to do two things. One, we need to speak to that old friend of mine who practices the Old Religion and find out what options we have, and two, we need to keep an eye on Mildred."

* * *

Ethel Hallow was literally stewing at dinner and she was ignoring her loyal sidekick Drusilla in favour of letting her anger and loathing boil inside her being. She and Drusilla had another hour of freedom left to them before they met with Miss Hardbroom for detention, and as if that wasn't bad enough she needed to write lines. Hallows did not write lines. Hallows should not be punished. Who cared if a girl who wasn't even a witch was pushed around? Where was the magical pride Enid Nightshade and Maud Spellbody, girls from two respected families who should know better, should show but instead hung around with that useless bitch? One thing Ethel couldn't grasp though was why Miss Cackle had even allowed Mildred into the school in the first place. Alright, so Mildred had managed to stop Agatha Cackle from taking over the school because she wasn't bound by the Witches code, but why did she have to be given that kind of reward?

She couldn't fly. She had a pathetic cat that refused to sit up straight on the broom the way a proper cat should sit. She was terrible at spells and potions. Her mother wasn't a witch. She had cheated on her entrance exam, using Ethel's own potion, and it didn't matter to the blond if the idiot had confessed. To top it all, Mildred had changed her into a pig when she should have changed her into a frog. How useless could she possibly get? What made it worse was she'd come back, exposed Miss Gullet as a thief, and she brought a wizard into the school as the new spells science teacher, and Ethel had been forced to spend a few days as a frog in the pond. With Miss Gullet. By the time Miss Cackle rescued her, Ethel had been debating whether frogs could kill other frogs. Miss Gullet was getting on her nerves, the former spells science teacher moaned about a number of things.

Health and safety was the number one moan. It was like the woman genuinely could not find a reason to not say those words and make a fuss, but hearing about how, as frogs, the two witches could be attacked by the familiars had terrified the pair of them. But it didn't end there, oh no. Ethel had spent hours and hours on the lily pads listening to Gullet pick random things out about the pond and the surrounding area, and spin elaborate stories about how dangerous they were.

Okay, for some Ethel could see some truth to it, but some were just downright bizarre. Luckily Miss Gullet shared her passion for deriding Mildred Hubble, but even there Ethel Hallow found herself overshadowed, and she did not like it. She preferred people listen to HER instead of listening to the opinions of others. That was one of the reasons Ethel allowed Drusilla Paddock, one of the least talented witches ever, to stay by her side because the other girl was the perfect sycophant. Ethel hated other people having an opinion - she was a Hallow, she was the one with the powerful family, not Drusilla. She would do all the thinking, nobody else and have the opinion whilst Drusilla would only have to nod and go through with whatever she believed or said.

Mildred Hubble….oh, how Ethel loathed her. But today Ethel had seen Mildred's eyes flash gold, and she had every intention of telling her parents, if they could be bothered to listen, but it was likely they wouldn't since they'd pay sole attention to their precious Esmerelda. Ethel felt her lips curl into a snarl at the thought of her elder sister. Ethel had always hated being overshadowed by anyone, whether it was from one of her younger sisters or even her eldest.

While Ethel was openly contemptuous of her sister and was truly jealous of her, even she would need to be stupid to not see that Esmerelda was an extremely powerful and capable witch, but the fact existed that Ethel wanted to be where Esmerelda was. She had always wanted their roles to be reversed, with herself as the eldest and most boasted about to their family's 'friends' or more accurately political contacts, she had always wanted to be the one wearing that sash that proudly stated she was the record achiever of the entrance exam. But no, she had been born three years after her big sister and when Ethel had realised what this meant when her parents had taught her the ins and outs of magical law and tradition as well as the witches code her views of Esmerelda had changed and she had become bitter as a result, and that became the nexus point in her life where she decided to be even better than her sister. Ethel spent every waking moment, sometimes even forgoing sleep and meals just to learn how to become a better witch. Esmerelda had always been shaken by the lengths she was willing to go, but Ethel didn't care. She spent hours and hours pouring over all the spell books she could find and considering the size of the Hallow family collection, there were quite a lot. She also practiced with potions under the watchful eyes of either her mother or father, or even one of her aunts.

Her plan before coming to Cackles academy was simple and straightforward to understand. She would fly her broomstick gracefully and land to impress her teachers, knowing that impressions counted more than anything. It had certainly worked and she had been awarded with an impressed Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom, and she had thought she would ace the entrance exam - only for Mildred Hubble to cheat her out of what was rightfully hers, and things spiralled out of control. Every plan Ethel had had in mind to either get rid of the idiot or break up her friendships with Enid and Maud (why those two even put up with an ignorant little bitch, Ethel couldn't work out) failed. And each time she either lost out on her mablet, turned into a frog herself, and forced to put up with one of the most boring people on Earth, or was reprimanded in front of the Great Wizard! It was infuriating.

But Ethel Hallow would make Mildred Hubble pay. One way or another.

She was so busy stewing that she didn't pay attention to her older sister approaching and sitting down opposite. Esmerelda had planned to sit next to her younger sibling to talk sense into Ethel's stubbornly thick skull, but decided against it. She needed Ethel calm instead of volatile. She also glared at Drusilla, and told the other girl to get lost. Drusilla may have been brave to be with one Hallow, but not two.

"I heard what happened, you know its amazing, I tell you to leave Mildred alone and to stop jeopardising our family, and what do you do? You go and nearly destroy her work. What were you thinking, Ethel?"

Ethel seethed even more. "Why do you care more about her than me? I'm your sister for Morgana's sake, she's a nobody."

Esmerelda wasn't backing down from this one. "To you perhaps, but did you know that Mildred managed to impress the Great Wizard - ah, thought that would grab your attention - and he told our father what Agatha Cackle told you to do. Do you know what that means? The Great Wizard himself believes you are an accomplice for the perversion of the code, but also an accomplice to the attempted murder of two witches. You've turned this into one ugly mess for him, Ethel!"

"I didn't know it was Agatha-"

"And even if you did, would you have done what anybody else would have done if someone told you to curse a broomstick to make whoever sat on it crash and potentially die, and tell someone else like Miss Hardbroom?" Esmerelda looked at Ethel is disgust. "The point is you didn't, you didn't follow one of the most pivotal rules of the code which is to no allow harm to other witches and you flouted it. You disregarded the Witches code simply because you wanted to see Mildred hurt." She leaned forward to hiss, "You always were an arrogant, stubborn, callous little bitch, but even I never guessed you'd want to become a would be murderer as well, just when you couldn't drop lower. How many times did you make our younger sisters cry simply because they took away all the attention you believed you deserved? It's time you grew up, little sister."

"Don't call me that!" Ethel's hair was beginning to spark with the amount of anger coiling around her. But Esmerelda was not surprised but she prepared to defend herself in case her sister was truly stupid enough to attack her in front of witnesses. "Don't even think about it," she hissed towards her sister, her mind already going through her knowledge of spells and curses. "You even try to curse me and then we'll see which of us is better." Ethel huffed but tried to calm down, knowing that Esmerelda was too powerful. The older witch forced herself to calm down herself.

"Ethel, you can't live life the way you are. I know our parents and everyone is unfair by constantly talking about me to everyone else, I don't enjoy it. I just want to carry on with my education and be the best I can but I want you to be the person you should be, but you have your own life to live," she said, hoping to get her sister to see sense, "and bullying Mildred won't help you. Okay, so she did cheat on her exams, but so what? Why don't you stop trying to be like me, and start being yourself for a change and be someone different?"

Ethel scowled at her, and Esmerelda sighed when she saw her expression. "I've lost her," she thought sadly, remembering the girl that Ethel had once been before she'd become so twisted and bitter into what she was now. She stood up sadly, Ethel's eyes tracking her every movement.

Esmerelda was about to turn away when Ethel asked her a question she should have expected, "Why do you defend Mildred Hubble so much? She's the opposite of us proper witches."

Esmerelda turned around and fixed Ethel squarely in the eyes. She didn't sit down, not for this. Being near Ethel at the moment was like being near poisonous fumes, she needed to get out while she still could. "Mildred Hubble is a girl out of her comfort zone, but she is the most popular girl in the school. She'd got a winning personality, she's kind, decent, and she wants to prove herself. Many of the girls here adore her. Yeah, she might have cheated and used your work, my own sister, but she admitted it. I'm not happy that she did it, but I think she can make up for her mistakes. That means she's at least honest about her mistakes, unlike you. We're here to learn Ethel, that's what school's about, and contrary to what HB says, we can't get everything perfectly right on our first day. There's no fun in that, is there?"

* * *

After spending half an hour supervising Ethel and Drusilla's detention, Miss Hardbroom joined Ada after handing the detention over to Mr Rowan Webb. The spells science teacher didn't have a problem with taking the detention because everyone knew he had a soft spot for Mildred, but his detentions were just as strict as hers. Although he didn't show it in lessons, Mr Rowan Webb took magical education very seriously and had issues with anyone who flouted it, and when he heard that Ethel and Drusilla had both tried to set an essay Mildred had spent a lot of time working on he wasn't impressed. Miss Hardbroom didn't know what the wizard had in mind for a punishment, but she had a suspicion it would be something Ethel would not be keen on repeating any time soon.

When she entered the headmistress's office Hecate found Ada ending a conversation with Miss Bat, and after the older witch left the room Ada explained, "Miss Bat knows that we're leaving for a few hours together, and she will keep an eye on everything that happens here."

Hecate nodded. As the most senior witch on the staff, it was a logical decision to make. She just had one concern. "Does she know about Mildred and the Old Religion?"

"No. I want to speak to Alice first about what I can do," Ada sighed and pointed towards the desk, "I'm drafting a letter for the Great Wizard himself, to tell him about Mildred and what she has been doing, but until we're spoken to Alice I don't anyone else to know until I've got some idea of what to do."

Hecate wasn't used to seeing Ada Cackle so indecisive before, but she had never met anyone who could use the Old Religion before so she was no better. "Aside from Alice and Mildred, you've never encountered anyone capable of using this magic before, have you?" she asked as she and her headmistress prepared to leave.

"No."

* * *

The journey to Ada's friend Alice didn't take long but while magical transportation was fast, Hecate and Ada had to make the rest of the way on foot because of the strong magic blocking them. Neither Ada or Hecate had anticipated such trouble, but maybe it was inevitable the witch they were heading to meet would either have cast some protection over herself and her home. It had been embarrassing for the two witches to find themselves rebounded and forced to materialise a short distance away from Alice's house, but they had no choice. Both Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom knew that if they tried to materialise without an invitation they could very well be killed, depending on the power of Alice's defences.

After stretching their new aching limbs, Ada and Hecate found themselves in pitch darkness. With a sigh Hecate cast a lighting spell, and summoned a ball of light to help them find their way through the darkness. With the ball of light levitating overhead, they found their way, but from what they could tell Alice lived in a wide open space.

"Where are we?" Hecate asked. For magical transportation to work you needed to know where you were going, and it was carefully taught so then witches and wizards didn't end up hitting or slamming into a wall or a tree. Ada, knowing roughly where Alice lived, had guided Hecate through the vortex of magical transportation, something the dark haired teacher loathed.

"Somewhere in Wales. The last time Alice visited me, she took me here and I memorised the place for future visits, but I'm not sure whereabouts in Wales we are. We're nowhere near the coast."

"Why did she choose to settle here?"

"Because Wales was where Camelot once stood and Albion was founded," Ada replied. "It is also here that the Isle of the Blessed is located. Alice probably moved here because of the land's connection to the Old Religion."

Many witches and wizards were superstitious by nature, so Hecate nearly jumped out of her skin when a nearby owl hooted seemingly on cue with what Ada had just said about the Old Religion being centred here, and the wind rustled through the trees, making the branches creak. Hecate was so uneasy that she was glad when she and Ada arrived at a little cottage. It looked a homely little place, quaint and cosy with a small amount of smoke creeping out of the chimney. Obviously someone was inside, but Hecate wasn't really interested in its appearance. She could feel magic in the air around this cottage.

Ada knocked on the door, calling, "Alice? It's me, Ada and Hecate Hardbroom. We need to speak to you urgently."

The two witches stood waiting, and finally the door opened revealing Alice. The woman was as old as her friend, and yet she appeared to be middle aged compared to her friend.

"Alice, it's good to see you."

Alice nodded, "And you Ada," her eyes flicked to Hecate, "and this is your deputy headmistress?" It was a rhetorical question, Alice knew of Hecate Hardbroom's reputation only too well.

"Yes."

Hecate instantly conducted the ritualistic greeting, only for Alice to casually wave a hand. "Please, don't do that, Miss Hardbroom. I never liked that tradition," she chuckled, leaving behind a truly insulted witch.

The interior of the cottage was just as warm and as cosy as it was on the outside, and there was a smell of freshly made soup and cake. After offering refreshments Alice led them both into the living room. It was more of a library and a garden than a living room, complete with an non magical television. Hecate's fingers itched to get rid of it, but she stayed her hand, afraid to insult another witch. Instead she just curiously examined the collection of artefacts and books strewn all over the place. Many of them came from other countries, from the masks of Africa, the swords of Rome and from the Arabic world, to the full armour of a Japanese samurai warrior. There were scrolls in Ancient Peruvian, Ancient Egyptian, and a host of others in languages Hecate couldn't decipher.

Hecate's eyes wandered over to a collection of what looked like novels, and picked out books. "The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings?"

Alice nodded, unsurprised by Hecate's interest. "Probably the most worthwhile fantasy novels ever written, and I noticed your interest in the rest of my collection. Did Ada tell you of my work in Magical Archaeology?"

"Yes."

"Good. So, why are you here?"

Ada put her teacup on the table. "Alice, we think," she gestured to Hecate, "one of our students has the power of the Old Religion."

Alice nodded and surprised both teachers with what she said next, "You're here about Mildred Hubble."

"You know about her?" Hecate began dangerously, but Alice glared at her, her eyes flashing gold. "Do not take my flouting for magical tradition as a belief I cannot defend myself, Miss Hardbroom. I can kill you and wipe my hands while your body is cooling down in a corner," she hissed, "I have known about your contempt for Mildred for some time. And yes, I do know about her. I felt the rejoice the Old Religion felt at her birth. Do you want to know how that felt for me, for everyone who who understands it?"

Alice stood up abruptly it startled even her old friend. "Alice-"

"No, Ada. When she was born, it was like a blanket of joy was thrown over us, even I cannot find the words to describe something so miraculous, but I can try." Alice sighed and began again. "It was like the Old Religion had just woken up from a long sleep, and when Mildred was born it was like the sun coming out from behind grey clouds. But now she is practicing the magic its singing."

Hecate was starting to become both confused and sceptical. She was getting the impression Alice was speaking of a…goddess. But Mildred?

"Why is Mildred more special than other witches and wizards born with the Old Religion?" she asked.

"Miss Hardbroom, Mildred Hubble is destined to be the next High priestess of the Old Religion. She is truly blessed." The expression on Alice's face told her visitors she wasn't joking at all, and what she said next made it even more grave. "The last sorceress to have such a title was Morgana Pendragon herself, and I don't think I need to remind the pair of you about what she did with her power."

"No, you don't," Ada whispered.

Alice nodded and sat down again. "Mildred can do great good with her powers, but if she is pushed the wrong way we could lose her, and the world could not take another Morgana. I have prepared a letter for the Great Wizard for you to take back, I knew you would have come to see me Ada since I'm the only person you know who understands the Old Religion. The letter basically tells of what Mildred is meant to become and that no-one should try to harm her or those she's close to. Albion very nearly fell because of Morgause and Morgana and their ignorance, and there must not be a repeat. And there is also a letter from Merlin himself in that letter."

"Merlin?! I didn't know he was still alive," Hecate whispered as Ada gasped in astonishment. Alice ignored their reactions and carried on. "Merlin and I have been friends for a long time, and he helped teach me about the Old Religion. We have been watching Mildred as she's grown up, and we know how many people at Cackle's have treated her," she sent Hecate a stern look but carried on, "Merlin was hesitant to give her access to the Old Religion's magic, Ada; he's seen too many high priestesses become evil monsters, and he's experienced so many painful lessons at their hands and doesn't want history to repeat itself. He doesn't want to see Mildred who was raised by a loving mother become a monster and lose sight of who she is. But I was with him when she found a history book that contained just enough information about what happened when Uther Pendragon began his genocidal war on magic, and you could see the horror she felt just by reading it. I also don't think she was impressed much by Merlin, but she realised he was like all humans and fallible and made mistakes."

Alice smiled as she took in the expressions of her visitors. "I can understand your scepticism. I also recommend you tell the rest of your staff about Mildred, but don't box her in and expect too much of her because she has only begun to tap into her power. Keep an eye on her, and take the teachers into her room to watch her practice."

Ada frowned, "Should we appear before her, reassure her and help guide her?"

Alice shrugged unhelpfully. "It's up to you. But truthfully you can only do so much with the Craft on your side, but it would be a good way for her to learn and develop as a witch. But I'd watch her first, and speak to her afterwards. Don't be surprised if she tries to bluff, but tell her precisely where the hiding place for the spell book Merlin himself was gifted with as a boy is. But for the time being I would let her practice alone and become more confident in herself."

"Alice, why else was Merlin reluctant to give Mildred that spell book? I can understand his fears about Morgana and Morgause, but why else was he afraid?" Ada asked.

Alice sat back in her chair. "Merlin doesn't want the Old Religion to come back only for it to go away again. That's why we're so concerned about Mildred and what path she will take as a high priestess. If she remains good and kind, basically the same person she is now, then she will go on to do many great and good deeds. But if she is harassed by that stupid Hallow girl and someone like your sister Agatha attacks her and injures her friends who will say they want nothing to do with her, or if her mother is injured because of something she did without realising it, then Mildred could very well become a dark witch."

Alice sighed as both witches took in the explanation with dread, both knowing that there was a lot of truth to what she was saying. "Julie Hubble loves Mildred, but there's a possibility someone like Agatha who is still as closed minded as ever, will try to harm her and if there is one person Mildred loves its her mother. Agatha wouldn't stand a chance against a high priestess of the Old Religion, and by that point Mildred might find she enjoys inflicting pain and misery on anyone stupid enough to cross her. I'm all for giving Mildred a chance, but Merlin and I watched as Ethel Hallow nearly pushed the girl too far. You need to rein her in Ada, really rein her in, before she does something so stupid she'll never realise what hit her until its too late."

Breaking off to have a shrug and take another sip from her teacup, Alice sighed, "Another thing he doesn't want if she becomes good is to make the same mistake the high priestess Nimueh made."

"Nimueh?" Ada looked thoughtful. "I've heard of her but I don't know too much about her. What happened?"

"When Uther Pendragon took the throne of Camelot and began building his own kingdom, he needed an heir. At that point there was chaos in the lands outside the city. Most of it was were down to the work of sorcerers who were busy trying to gain power for themselves. Uther began the Great Purge in answer to that chaos, saying magic was evil and must be destroyed, but there was more to the story than that." Alice looked at her hands grimly, still talking, "You see, Uther's queen Ygraine was barren, and since he had just built his kingdom Uther was afraid he'd lose it, so he looked to his friend Nimueh, a high priestess of the Old Religion, for help. She agreed to help him but warned him that a price would be asked, a life would be taken for a life given. Uther agreed, not understanding what he was agreeing to. You need to understand that for the Old Religion, the balance between life and death is a key focus and one you should never take lightly. Nimueh made it possible for Arthur to be born with magic, but while Uther gained his heir he lost his Queen to magic."

"So that's how the Great Purge started?" Hecate whispered while Ada looked grim, both remembering their magical history and one of the most bloodiest chapters it contained but they hadn't known it was this complex, and Hecate asked herself if Mildred knew herself about the Purge.

But Alice had more to say. "Nimueh had seen the chaos as well, and she foolishly believed that if Ygraine died and helped Uther raise Arthur, that a union between one of the most powerful high priestesses and the new ruler of Camelot would see an end to it. But she underestimated both Uther's brutality and his love for Ygraine. Nimueh watched as hundreds of her friends and acquaintances paid the price for her actions, and that is one reason why Merlin is afraid for Mildred's future. He's worried she will make one mistake and thousands will pay the price."

Hecate and Ada didn't know what to say to that, both of them were unnerved already by the type of destiny awaiting Mildred and both of them didn't like the thought of Mildred becoming evil and cruel, completely different from her present self now. Alice took advantage of their surprise and stood up and silently handed Ada the letters from herself and Merlin to hand over to the Great Wizard. When the two witches left, they couldn't help but feel trepidation for the future, but they would try their level best to ensure Mildred Hubble did not become a force for evil, even accidentally.

* * *

Mildred is destined to be the new High Priestess of the Old Religion? How do you think it will go? Please comment.


	4. Chapter 4 Telling the Teachers

Telling the Teachers.

* * *

After the bizarre meeting with Cackle and Hardbroom in the former's office, Mildred hadn't touched the spell book and had decided to lie low for a few days while she just kept her head down as best she could; she didn't believe for one minute neither teacher wouldn't personally come to her bedroom and watch her practice the magic of the Old Religion. She wasn't stupid - she knew both teachers could appear and disappear and she wouldn't know whether they were present or not, so she decided to not open the book until she was sure they weren't there, or better yet when all the talk about what had happened between her and Ethel died down and at Cackles, everyone soon found better things to do. But she knew she'd open that book again - just feeling the magic coursing through her as she cast the spells in the old magic book was like drinking caffeine rich coffee. It was so addictive Mildred couldn't give it up. Well, actually she did open the book but only to flick through the pages and try to find a spell she could use to ensure she had some privacy. She found out how to cast locking and unlocking spells, but those were physical barriers and ones ordinary people like her mother wouldn't be able to cross, but completely useless against a witch like HB or Cackle.

Besides she had had enough chaos for one week in her life. It had been a close call, what with Parents evening. Mildred still couldn't believe that Maud would make a mistake on that level, her friend was usually more sensible than that. And besides not all the disasters at Cackles that revolved around her and her friends were completely Maud's fault. No, many of them were Mildred's more than Maud's, though unlike Maud she didn't really care if the teachers complained about them to her mother. But she was glad Mr Spellbody had some Forgetting powder on him to make Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom forget the explosion that Maud had set off in the Great Hall, but she would never forget the pain she felt at not being able to remember her friendships with either Maud or Enid. At least Maud had learnt something from that mess -it was one thing to say a lie to protect a friend, or to get them into the entrance exam which Maud had done for her after they'd crashed spectacularly in the pond, but when Maud had used that forgetting powder Mildred had truly forgotten her. Maud and Enid helped her make Cackle's bearable, the thought of losing them especially after tonight was really painful for her. Mildred had enjoyed meeting the parents of her friends and she genuinely thought Enid's dad was cool, but the best thing was they hadn't judged her or her mum, though it would've been better if Maud hadn't used forgetting powder, and she hoped Maud had learnt her lesson to never use that damn stuff ever again. Mildred could understand the benefits behind what she'd done, of course; Maud's parents expected her to do well, but they weren't as rigid about it as her best friend believed, and they knew she would make mistakes. They also didn't seem to care about the disaster their daughter along with her two best friends had created in the potions lab, but she couldn't judge them since she barely knew them.

One thing still made Mildred frown. Her mother. Mildred had always depended on her mum to tell her the truth, and she'd never gotten the impression that she'd lie to her. But Mildred was still convinced for some reason that her mother knew too much about magical culture to be realistic - her knowledge of the witches code sprang to mind, so did her knowledge of the curriculum, but as her mother had said, the school had given her a prospectus so her mum would have picked up on it. That did explain a great deal, and it seemed more plausible than thinking her mother was hiding a secret that huge. Why, if she was a witch, did she hide her true history from Mildred? How could she hide her powers? Did Julie know her daughter was a witch? If so why did she live like a normal person? Mildred had been prepared to confront her mother about it, and after being suspicious about it all night and a bit longer than that before, she'd confronted her. In the end her mum had surprised her by talking about the witches code, about the second year classes, and that had convinced Mildred her hunch was right, only for her mum to say she'd studied the prospectus. Quite thoroughly too, by the sounds of it. But Mildred still wasn't convinced - what about that potion Maud had used on her before parents evening? Okay, maybe it did work on ordinary people besides what Maud had found out during that mess when she'd tried and succeeded in making herself older, but it would be fun if her mum really was a witch. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe Mildred was just letting her overactive imagination run wild for her again. Anyway, after laying low for a week from using the magic of the Old Religion though she still practiced some of the spells she'd picked out of the spell book that M had given her, Mildred got the book out and started practicing magic again when she felt safe enough.

Sitting on the floor of her room again with Tabby splayed all over her bed, Mildred took a deep breath as she prepared for what she was about to do this evening. With the language of the Old Religion rolling off her tongue, Mildred conjured 5 jars full of different coloured water. Tonight was an experiment with magical control. What she was doing was similar to that time she'd tried to impress the Great Wizard with her creativity before everything went wrong, but this time she was alone in her room, and she was free to practice. Closing her eyes and concentrating, Mildred's hands moved as if she were conducting an orchestra, and she smiled as musical sounds began to fill the air of her room but she kept her eyes closed as she concentrated. She'd found it strange to feel her magic, but when she had she was amazed by how her magic seemed eager to do what she wanted it to do. It was like an overexcited puppy. After a few minutes of doing this with just five glasses, she conjured another three glasses and conducted the orchestra. Again and again Mildred increased the number of glass jars in her bedroom until the entire floor was full of them, but she didn't mind as she was having fun.

 _Miss Hardbroom cursed as Mildred stopped once again and added another four jars, and conducted her cacophony. It took all of her patience and control to not materialise in the bedroom before she found herself with no space to move anymore since Mildred was cluttering the place up, but she held back. She had been waiting and watching for Mildred to use the magic of the Old Religion, but the girl hadn't practiced magic for some time, and truly the deputy headmistress and headmistress were getting bored of waiting for proof that what Alice had said about Mildred becoming the next high priestess of the Old Religion, but they'd been disappointed. Miss Hardbroom had made it a habit to pass invisibly through the bedrooms of every student she had at the academy, knowing that behind closed doors they would be plotting mischief. Mildred Hubble was no exception, but now Hecate knew what Mildred was doing she had to admit she was eager to see Mildred actually practice magic. But she was disappointed when she didn't touch her book. They had disturbed her, they'd realised, when Mildred had been taken to the headteacher's office after what happened in potions with Ethel Hallow._

 _Both witches had watched as Mildred worked on her homework, laughed and talked with her friends (conspired more like), painted one of her pictures, or just played with her cat Tabby. Miss Hardbroom's disdain for the animal was matched by her annoyance in general with Mildred; a real witch's cat always hunted, always sat straight on the broom. But Tabby would always give Mildred company., and that made Hecate envious of her. But now all of her waiting had paid off._

 _Hecate had been curious at first when Mildred had simply sat cross-legged on the floor of her room, but noticed her practiced moves. The pupil had obviously done this before, but she had been amazed when Mildred had conjured those glass jars full of water and started conducting a musical display similar to the one she'd conducted when the Great Wizard was here. Remembering that little episode naturally made her apprehensive, but this time no-one was here to ruin it. Mildred had her eyes closed as her hands slowly and gracefully swept too and fro as she conducted the music, but each time her eyes opened Hecate had to gasp at the golden irises as the student who many believed to be academically useless effortlessly conjured more and more glass jars that grew her collection until she had practically littered her room. But the problem was even an invisible witch had to obey the laws of physics, and she had to move continuously around the room to avoid the glass jars as they appeared whenever Mildred conjured them. But the deputy headmistress had to admit she was impressed by the number of jars Mildred was conjuring around her. For a witch like Hecate Hardbroom, conjuring so many glass jars and keeping them here, was impressive. It demanded a lot of magic. And then it struck her, was Mildred doing this to develop her magical control? Mildred continued to continue with the orchestra for another 10 minutes before she opened her eyes, the language of the Old Religion rolling off her tongue - it was so eerie to hear that ancient language coming from a student, Miss Hardbroom throught - and the currently invisible teacher watched in amazement as the glass jars reformed all around her into a massive pyramid with differently shaped glass jars. There were a few large jars, but they weren't just one jar - they contained smaller jars - and they were topped by smaller and medium shaped jars. Mildred smiled and stood up, wincing as she did._

 _"It's ridiculous, a school of magic this old and they can't even install carpet," Mildred hissed, but then Miss Hardbroom saw a gleam in her eyes that had nothing to do with the colour of her irises, and despite her annoyance about what Mildred had just said about the school - she had been at Cackles a short time, but she must have figured out by now how seriously tradition was taken; carpets had never been around during the foundation of the school, and it would stay that way._

 _With a grin, Mildred waved her hands and her irises flashed golden again. The stone floor of the bedroom changed into thick but strongly soft carpet. Hecate gasped, but her hands itched as she fought the urge to appear and force Mildred into canceling the spell, but she didn't have the chance as the girl walked over to the pyramid._

 _Mildred cleared her throat and began to conduct a new orchestra with the jars, her hands gliding or tapping the rims of each jar to produce the sounds she wanted. Mildred eventually conjured another pyramid, and Hecate almost cried out in disbelief - how many did the girl need? She got her answer when Mildred successfully conjured another pyramid, differently shaped to the first one but aside from that identical. Hecate was becoming increasingly awed and yet concerned - Mildred, despite all her failings, was still too inexperienced in magical conjuration and so she didn't know too much would drain and exhaust her. Indeed she seemed to be tiring. But Mildred seemed to realise that all by herself. She didn't conjure anymore pyramids, and she canceled the enchantment on the carpet, returning it to the original stone floor._

 _Hecate could see that Mildred was beginning to look exhausted._

Mildred was beginning to feel tired. The feeling had been slowly creeping up on her like a shadow, it had started when she had changed the jars into one massive pyramid before it got worse as she changed the stone floor into a soft carpet. But when she'd conjured the second pyramid, the draining feeling she was getting only grew worse. Mildred become worried as she continued with her little experiment before she realised she was using too much magic. She remembered a time when she and her mum had opened up too many tabs on their laptop back home in their flat, so it had slowed the computer down and it wasn't until the tabs were closed the computer sped up, so she thought the principle was the same. She canceled the spell on the carpet, and waited to see what happened. She breathed a slow sight of relief when the feeling on her faded, but it didn't go away. Mildred huffed and got rid of the second pyramid and immediately felt better, but she was still tired.

Realising she had no choice and that she had pushed herself too far tonight, Mildred sighed and admitted defeat. She got rid of the original pyramid. Mildred gasped when she was suddenly so dizzy and tired that she bent over double and started gasping. She sounded like a steam train thundering through the countryside with the sounds she was making. Mildred staggered over to her bed and snuggled under the duvet. She breathed out her relief when her head hit the pillow and her back snuggled into the mattress. She'd felt her strength return to her even before she got into bed, and she hoped she didn't feel this way in the morning. Mildred was just about to close her eyes when a sudden movement from Tabby caught her attention. Her beloved familiar was padding his way to her, sensing her exhaustion and seeing if she needed company. Mildred smiled at the cat as he butted her chin and nose with his face.

"I don't care what they say about you, Tabs," Mildred whispered, using a hand to lightly brush the cat's head. "To me, you're the most beautiful witch's cat in the whole world."

With each word she said, Mildred knew it was the truth. Yeah, she grew frustrated because Tabby refused to sit upright on her broomstick like every other cat did - the rucksack solution wasn't meant to be a permanent answer to her problem, but until Tabby and her became more confident on a broomstick there was little she could do. The spell book showed ways of controlling animals, but Mildred didn't plan on using them unless as a last resort.

She was getting tired so she blew out her candle with just her breath, not up to using magic right there and then, but as she fell asleep she remembered there was cat training tomorrow. Oh goody. After she blew out her candle, Mildred fell asleep, completely unaware that all the time she had been practicing she'd had an unwelcome observer.

* * *

Knowing that Ada had already gone to bed, Hecate needed to wait until the early morning to speak to her friend. When she finally reached the headmistress Ada had clearly woken up. "Ah, good morning Hecate," she greeted with a smile. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," Hecate replied shortly without any smiling. "I watched Mildred last night practicing the magic of the Old Religion."

"Oh?" Ada leant forwards over her desk, her interest sparked instantly. "What did she do?"

For the next half an hour Hecate described the scene in Mildred's bedroom. Ada listened raptly and only interrupted to clarify one or two points to Hecate's tale. She listened in amazement at Hecate's description of how seemingly effortlessly Mildred had manipulated the magic in her room and conjured jar after jar of liquid and played music with them before transfiguring them into pyramids and still managed to conjure and maintain a carpet she had created out of the stone flooring in her room before succumbing to magical exhaustion. Ada had heard similar stories and experienced it herself about young witches and wizards who tried to push the boundaries of their powers and so exhausted themselves. It was natural really for them to do that and it was only experienced witches like herself who knew the dangers.

But still, learning that Mildred had come so far as to use magic to that degree… how had she managed it, or was she merely experimenting with the Old Religion to see what it could do? The thought of a young girl playing with magic like that was similar to thinking of a non magical child playing with fire. It was dangerous, and Ada had no idea how she could approach this situation; with the other girls it was easy since they used the same magic she did.

But Mildred…. Mildred used the Old Religion, a magic whose use was incredibly rare. Ada shook her head. "We'll need to keep a close watch on Mildred, Hecate," she said.

What do you think I'm trying to do? Hecate shouted in her mind, amazed by her friend and colleague's mild mannered approach to the situation, but knew deep inside she could do nothing.

"Have you informed the Great Wizard?" Hecate asked as she tried to steer the conversation and try to make some sort of plan.

"Yes, yes, I sent him a letter and I included Alice's letter as well," Ada replied, and she stood up. "I've already told the other teachers to keep watch for Mildred, but I haven't told them about her use of the Old Religion just yet."

"Why not?"

"I don't want them to judge Mildred," Ada replied honestly. "You have to admit that girl has endured a lot of judgement simply because of her background. She'll have to deal with the Great Wizard at some point, so soon after he'd met her already. Today and tonight you and I will observe Mildred, see if she has done anymore work into mastering the spells of the Old Religion. And we will include the teachers as well; even if Mildred doesn't show any sign of using it in front of anyone today, it will be good to show it now before the Wizard comes."

"Is he coming?" Hecate pressed.

"Wouldn't you if a student you hadn't thought much of and only knew about because of second hand accounts that claimed she was both useless and dangerous turned out to possess a magical power that is barely seen, and is destined to become a high priestess?" Ada snapped back, then she calmed down but she was surprised by Hecate's rather stupid question. "I don't know when he is coming, but he will be here."

* * *

"Tabby!" Mildred huffed indignantly, ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone else. "One of these days you're going to be the death of me!"

As Mildred tried, and failed, to get Tabby to sit on her broomstick, she wondered if she was approaching this the wrong way. She didn't know what it was, but Tabby just wouldn't sit on the broomstick. Personally Mildred didn't care about what her cat did. Cats differed much like people did - some humans could climb mountains or swim across the Channel, while others hated heights or preferred dry land. Why should cats be any different?

Mildred took a deep breath and tried again, firmly this time, to put Tabby on her broomstick. The cat wriggled around in her arms, annoyed but she couldn't blame him. As soon as was on her broomstick he jumped off.

Closing her eyes to muster her patience, Mildred also had to ignore the jeers coming from Ethel and Drusilla.

"Mildred, come on, try and keep up," Miss Drill said, holding up her broomstick and looking impatient. This was why Mildred absolutely hated cat training. Why, what was the point? Sure, cats and witches went beautifully together but why was it so rushed? Couldn't the stupid teacher see that Tabby did not want to be on the broomstick? He wanted to be back in her room, lying on her bed, ready to keep her company tonight.

Then again, she had to show her cat on her broomstick, when she'd gotten Tabby to fly she'd used an unconventional trick - putting Tabby in her backpack and flying with him, that way he was more comfortable. But Miss Hardbroom and the other teachers had made it very clear that while it was a clever idea, it wasn't acceptable. The only reason she was still around was because her cat was flying, okay not 'gracefully' as HB had said, but who cared what she thought?

Mildred closed her eyes, realising that she didn't have any choice. She looked down at Tabby when she was sure Drill was out of earshot. "I'm so sorry about this, Tabs," she whispered. "Please forgive me."

Mildred ducked her head, chanting under her breath as she picked her cat up and placed him on her broomstick. No one saw her eyes flash gold when she finished the incantation. Tabby yowled in disapproval when he found he couldn't simply jump off the broom anymore, but Mildred was happy the animal control spell she'd found was taking effect. Too bad she felt sick having to use it, at first she had been excited at the thought of having her cat actually sitting up on the broomstick. Now she felt sick. She had been wondering for some time if she could or should cast such a spell on Tabby, but it might be the only way for him to behave. Plus it might give him more confidence sitting on a broomstick. When Mildred looked at her cat she could see he wasn't happy, but she'd deal with that later.

She got onto her broomstick, hovering slowly above the ground, ignoring the looks from the other girls. Miss Drill was just marching to the end of the row, commenting on the progress of the other girls when she turned around, "Mildred, I know Tabby doesn't like flying, and I'm not trying to be harsh, but I do want you to succeed-" Miss Drill was saying as she turned around, but her words died on her tongue when she saw Mildred flying with Tabby sitting comfortably on the broom. But if he was sitting comfortably, why was he yowling like that? The answer that came to Miss Drill shocked her.

How could Mildred Hubble do that to her beloved familiar?

* * *

"I think Mildred used a spell to make Tabby sit on her broomstick," Miss Drill began the staff meeting which occurred every afternoon when the girls were at lunch.

"Impossible."

"That girl using a spell that complex? Not on your life."

Wincing at her colleagues lack of faith though she knew how they felt, Hecate exchanged a look over the din with Miss Cackle, seeing the grave look on the headmistress's face. Ada looked pained, but she nodded back in resolution. Now was the perfect time.

Ada stood up, the movement instantly silencing the room at large. Waving a hand and selecting a silencing spell along with a decent privacy enchantment, Ada took a deep breath. "Miss Drill, please describe what happened?"

Everyone took note of the headmistress's grave face and realised something serious was about to be said. "I saw Mildred struggle with Tabby, trying to put him on her broomstick but he kept jumping off," she paused when the other teachers muttered disapprovingly about a witch's cat not acting correctly, and how Mildred should be training him at each opportunity. "I was inspecting the other girl's cats, and I was just turning round to see Mildred, telling her I wanted her to succeed - you all know about the condition we set after she flew with Tabby in that backpack of hers - and I expected to see her still struggle with the cat, but he was sitting on her broomstick."

"Why do you think she put a spell on him?"

"Because cats sitting comfortably on top of broomsticks do not yowl the way Tabby did," Miss Drill replied, "he sounded really upset and I saw he kept trying to jump down. That's why I think Mildred cast a spell, but I'd have thought she wouldn't have done that; she loves Tabby too much to force him to do something he didn't like."

Hecate glanced at Ada and saw the other woman seemed to become more resolute. "Miss Drill is right. Mildred did use magic on Tabby. Old magic, in fact." Ada waited for the chatter that inevitably happened to inevitably stop when they realised she had more to say. "As I am sure you're aware, there was an altercation between Mildred and Ethel Hallow a few weeks ago. The latter tried to destroy Mildred's potions essay, and Mildred cast a shield spell that blocked Ethel's attack. Later on Miss Hardbroom reported that Drusilla Paddock fired a similar spell Ethel had used, and injured Mildred's wrist despite Mildred recasting her shield spell. Miss Hardbroom healed the injury but found that the injury was partially healed with powerful magic that could only be incanted."

Miss Hardbroom took over the story. "Later on Ethel tried to sabotage Mildred's essay, but Mildred stopped her throwing a potions ingredient which would have caused the mixture to blow up by freezing it in mid air. After telling Ethel she was pathetic and to leave her alone, Mildred's eyes flashed golden with power. Later in Miss Cackles office where we'd hoped she would talk about it, she wouldn't, I knocked over a pitcher of water. It would have splashed her if she hadn't frozen the water. And her eyes flashed gold again, but this time I saw it being used in conjunction with a spell she had cast"

Mr Rowan-Webb stiffened noticeably. "The Old Religion?"

Ada nodded, "Yes. I have a friend who practices it. When we were at school she had problems with spells because the two forms of magic were completely different. How do you know about it?" she added, looking at the spells science teacher with interest.

"I have seen it practiced by other wizards, but I have never known someone personably who can practice it before. But its very rare when either a witch or wizard shows signs of being able to harness its power," the wizard replied. "How long has Mildred been practicing the Old Religion for anyway?"

Miss Cackle sighed, "We don't know. The only time we became aware of her using it was when she used that shield spell outside the potions lab to stop Ethel, and to freeze that water pitcher from spilling all over her. But she could have been practicing before that."

Miss Drill shook her head. "Ada, what is the Old Religion anyway?"

It was Mr Rowan-Webb who replied. "All the magic of the world is derived from the Old Religion," he explained. "It's an older pagan magic which was one of the greatest forms of magic ever, and it evolved into the Craft, voodoo and Wiccan magic. But in the days of Merlin it was the most prevalent form of magic there was. Sorcerers learnt how to harness it through practice, incantation and ritual, and many miracles could be performed by it which overshadow every other form of magic there is. The reason it is so old is the reason modern forms of magic are overshadowed by it. For a long time it prospered before Uther Pendragon made a demand on it that caused his wife's death and later saw the Great Purge. Thanks to Pendragon thousands of our kind were slaughtered like animals simply because he hadn't listened to the advice of a high priestess," Algernon shook his head at the waste of life, "but there were some survivors. When King Arthur died, Merlin and the other sorcerers worked together to try to save magic, and the results are in everyday magic."

Miss Bat shook her head. She knew of the Old Religion, but only enough to know of the basic backstory. She didn't know the intricacies of it's history.

"What happened to it, Algie? Why did Uther Pendragon nearly destroy it?"

The wizard became so incredibly sad. "Uther's wife was barren. So he went to a high priestess to help him, but while she could do this it would demand a life to be given. The balance of life and death is one of the most pivotal aspects of the Old Religion, so while Ygraine Pendragon was pregnant with Arthur, Uther had no idea he'd practically offered his wife up for a sacrifice for his son and heir until it was too late. He hadn't realised the price until Ygraine died. After that, in his grief, he lashed out at magic, and over 20 years as his son grew up listening to the poisonous ignorance of his father, hundreds of sorcerers were killed," Algernon said.

All the teachers processed this, some were shocked and horrified by how close and how quickly magic in the land of England had almost been wiped out by a King who had played a game without really understanding the rules or the consequences. For others it only served to remind them of how volatile groups of non magical people could be, but for some they knew it wasn't the fault of an individual. Some people, like Mildred Hubble's mother, was non magical and more open minded, but if she were in a group she would be assimilated into the group mentality of fear. One their own a person could be persuaded magic was real, that it was neither good nor bad. But, alas, such individuals and events like that were incredibly rare and usually when both cultures met there was violence.

None of the teachers held that against Mildred. Well, not a lot. But they didn't want magic to be flouted. To all magical users magic was not a religion. It was focal point of belief and power, something non magical people could and would never understand.

Miss Bat broke the silence. "How did Mildred come to study the Old Religion anyway? I'm sure we don't have any spell books in the library that she could find."

"There aren't any, but that doesn't mean some people don't have access to such knowledge."

"Miss Hardbroom and I visited an old friend of mine, the same one I told you about," Miss Cackle interrupted - she wanted to surprise her teachers with the news of where the book Mildred was using came from - looking at the teachers in turn. "Mildred is apparently more special than we gave her credit for. Alice, my friend, described how the Old Religion rejoiced at her birth. Apparently, Mildred is destined to become the new high priestess of the Old Religion. But she has a lot to make up for. The last high priestess was Morgana Pendragon herself, and we have all heard the stories surrounding her."

Everyone was awed and frightened that one day Mildred Hubble, the girl who was mocked so much in Cackle's because of her academic hopelessness was destined to become incredibly powerful. If there was one thing magical and non-magical people agreed on about the legends of Merlin and King Arthur, it was that Morgana had been a truly powerful and dangerous witch, though the non-magical worlds stories about her varied, some called her Merlin's lover, but only the magical world had the full story about her. The fact Mildred Hubble would inherit Morgana Pendragon's position in the Old Religion scared the teachers.

Miss Cackle went on, "Alice even told us that while Mildred can become great and do good, she can also become evil. Morgana Pendragon was one of a handful of powerful sorcerers during the middle ages who proved how dangerous magic was. We cannot let Mildred fall the same way. But if Ethel Hallow keeps pushing her, or someone or something pushes her in the wrong way…." Miss Cackle let the warning hang to let them know that she didn't even know what the consequences could mean but did know they would be bad.

Hecate suddenly grinned. "Ada, tell them who Alice's friend is and who gave that book to Mildred."

Everyone perked up and looked expectantly at the headmistress.

"He was reluctant to give Mildred the knowledge of the Old Religion," she explained, "but he did."

"Who is he?"

Ada looked at all of them, smiling like a child awed by a gigantic sweet and toy factory which had magically appeared in front of them. "He is Merlin. The same Merlin who protected and watched after Arthur Pendragon, and the same Merlin who helped found our new way of life after it was almost destroyed."

The teachers reactions were predictable.

* * *

Mildred had spoiled Tabby with fresh food for dinner. Tuna, though she'd had to throw open the window to get rid of the stench. Tabby loved tuna, and Mildred was beginning to ask herself if using the animal control spell she'd found in the spell book had been wise when she could easily have used a different method. Sure, it might stink her broomstick by coating its top with tuna, but it might be enough to persuade Tabby to sit on her broomstick without resorting to using the magic of the Old Religion; she wasn't sure why, but she had the feeling that it wasn't meant to be used for something so base and childish. Still, Tabby had forgiven her. But then she knew he was like that.

She still felt regret and did feel slightly terrible for abusing an animal controlling spell the way she had. At first Mildred had studied the right spells to make Tabby more confident on her broomstick, when she'd found the spell that was what she'd thought and hoped for. But when it came to using the spell as a last resort Mildred had instantly felt guilty, to say nothing of how she'd felt when she'd heard Tabby's yowls of displeasure. She couldn't blame him for being unhappy, she'd feel exactly the same way if her mother had stuck her to the ground or to the surface of a broomstick simply so then she would look like a witch.

Mildred sighed and decided to continue practicing magic - she knew by now the magic book 'M' had given her wasn't enough for her if she wanted to continue practicing the Old Religion, but if what she had learnt about its history was true, then Uther Pendragon wouldn't have just ended his genocidal rampage by just murder. No. He would want to destroy all magical knowledge - every scroll, every magic book, all of them destroyed along with any place druids or sorcerers gathered. The magic book resting on Mildred's bed must be one of the last of its kind, but if there were complete books out there she wanted to get them; learning the Craft might help her prepare for life as a witch, but truthfully Mildred was becoming increasingly aware of how limited the facilities at Cackles were for her. Sure, she could cast a few spells like the rest of the girls, but Mildred knew which form of magic she felt more comfortable with. The problem with the Craft was so many of the spells were just a series of poetic words knitted together into a pattern, and for Mildred learning and keeping them in mind was tricky. With the Old Religion it was different, Mildred had taken that ancient language like a duck to water and she loved getting many of the spells right first time round. It was better than her daily frustration of not getting the spell right or forgetting or mispronouncing a key word in the chain.

Waving her hand over her candle, Mildred muttered a spell at the candle, "Leohtbora."

Once the candle was lit, Mildred began another night of experimentation. She began by taking a deep breath as she concentrated. "Forbearnan firgenholt," she said and the flame of the candle grew larger before non verbally to create a column of flame that shot across the room, and she heard the sound of a strong air current. After canceling the spell, Mildred walked into the centre of the room, and cast, "Ligfyr onbærne swiþe," to conjure up a circle of flame in her bedroom.

Mildred let the circle of fire burn for a few minutes before she spun around in a circle - it might not be necessary but since she had just created a potentially life threatening hazard she didn't want to leave anything to chance - and said, "Lyft sy þe in bǽlwylm ac forhienan se wiðere."

A powerful current of air blasted through her room, and because Mildred had spun around on the spot in the circle of fire, it had a more powerful effect than if she had just stood still. Mildred stumbled around, but she grinned when she saw the flames were out.

"I'm almost there," she grinned happily before she recast the circle of flames again. "Ligfyr onbærne swiþe" Once that was done she held out her hand, and cast, "Draca." Mildred had to jump back in surprise when a massive dragon appeared out of the flame - she had cast this spell before when she had truly mastered the basic fire spells and wanted to see what effects could be created with it. Even Tabby, who was usually so calm and mild, yowled in surprise at the size of the flaming dragon. But she had limited this particular animation spell to the candle left on her desk, but this time she had decided to do something spectacular.

Mildred watched in awe, a massive grin on her face as she watched the dragon fly away out of her open window, and then her grin disappeared. THAT was magic. She had felt the power inside her as she'd cast the spell, and she desperately wanted to do more but she didn't want to push herself to the brink. After the flaming dragon had flown away, Mildred stood still and wondered what she could do next. She knew after reading that history book and from what she'd grasped in the magic book she'd been given that the more she used the Old Religion, the more she could shape it to her will. The prospect of all that power was both compelling and worrying - what if she hurt someone without meaning to? What if she became another Morgana?

No. Morgana might have died a mad, deluded and furious psychopathic witch, but Mildred had read her story differently to how others might read into it. In Mildred's mind, the other witch had been scared and pushed into a certain direction much like so many other sorcerers had during the dark mess Uther Pendragon had made of the world because of his mistakes.

And Merlin wasn't innocent either, that was how she'd read the book. Merlin could have - wait, Merlin? Mildred's eyes widened as a mad thought occurred to her. No, surely it wasn't possible. But what if it was?

She spoke to the room at large, not really caring if she might look insane if someone walked in and found her speaking to an empty room and not really caring if she was right or not, knowing that her unseen watcher was hearing everything. "It's you, isn't it? You're the one watching me, aren't you? The one who left the note, the one who gave me your spell book? Well now I think I know who you are. Well get this, I won't let you make the same mistakes you made in the past that caused so much death and pain. I refuse to let you twist my life as you did hers. I read that book from the library. I won't let you treat me as a pawn. I am my own person. And if you try to push me because of your arrogance - that's right, it was your arrogance that led to it - that and your gullibility, I will fight you to the bitter end. I'm glad you gave me that book, but don't think that will give you the right to rip my life to shreds."

 _"Who's she talking to?" Miss Drill whispered as she stood invisible in Mildred's room like all the teachers under the same shroud of invisibility Hecate, Ada and Algernon had cast over the group at the same time to keep themselves hidden. Together they had watched in awe as Mildred cast one spell after another. All of the teachers had nearly jumped out of their skins when Mildred created that first circle of fire around her, and almost broke out of their cover to help her when the girl quickly put the flames out. But when she'd recast the spell they'd all thought she'd had a death wish, only to be amazed by the massive flaming dragon that flew out of the open window._

 _It was Mildred's face that got to them all. That expression of amazement and awe for what she'd just done got to all of the teachers who had been using magic all their lives, but they had never seen magic performed like this. Miss Bat herself remembered how Mildred had gotten worked up because she hadn't managed to turn a mouse into a frog, a simple piece of magic, but she had made up for it by turning the mouse into a number of other things. Mildred had won her respect for saving Algie, but she had won more by proving herself to be a powerful magician. Unlike Hecate, Miss Bat didn't see it as a bad sign whenever a witch or wizard had problems with casting spells - it was usually the sign of a powerful witch when effects such as the one during that test Hecate had pushed Mildred into were visible, but Hecate's inflexibility and harsh attitude towards Mildred made it hard for her to see._

 _But seeing what she had….. Miss Bat wondered just how powerful Mildred would become. If what Ada said was true then becoming a high priestess, the same position held by Morgana herself, meant Mildred could possibly become one of the most powerful witches in history._

 _Algernon had always known Mildred was special. Okay, to many the girl was a nightmare to work with and a menace to put up with, but to Algernon that was to be expected because the poor girl had been taken out of her own world and put into theirs. Was it any wonder she was struggling? All the other girls in the castle had known forever who they were, what they were, and what was expected of them. Mildred didn't have any of that, she hadn't been given any of the basic spell or potions training witches and wizards were given in preparation for the day they would attend one of the numerous schools of magic. While he pitied her, he was grateful to the girl in more ways than one. It was Mildred who'd found him and revealed the truth about what happened to him after Miss Gullet had changed him into a frog. Like the love of his life, Algernon had been impressed by Mildred's multi transformation spell and was a little disturbed by Hecate Hardbroom's treatment of the girl but over time he realised that despite appearances Hardbroom did care about Mildred, she just couldn't express it._

 _When Algernon had found out Mildred was practicing the magic of the Old Religion, he'd been surprised but not shocked - the wizard hadn't been joking when he'd told the other members of staff about his experiences with other wizards and witches who could cast the same magic but to different levels. Now the problem was Algernon had rarely ever seen magic like this cast, so he had no way of knowing just how powerful Mildred was and what her future level would be; the title of High Priestess implied a witch or sorceress of great skill and power, but even the Great Wizards of the past had varying levels of power and control, some of them were weaker or stronger than Egbert Hellibore, but it didn't matter in the long term._

 _Although Algernon was impressed by the practice of the Old magic in her room, he did wonder and worry about Mildred's speaking to the room at large, particularly when she implied someone was watching her. That scared him - wizards were powerful, and there were sayings that described how dangerous they could be when angered, and Algernon knew that when he was furious himself, he was a terrifying image. If he had been given the chance he would have terrified Miss Gullet and would have taught her a lesson she would never have forgotten. But if there was one thing wizards hated it was someone, some other magician, a warlock, a witch, or another wizard, watching them. No wizard liked their secrets which they protected so zealously and took with them to the grave unless they found a worthy apprentice to pass it down, but Algernon didn't want to think of what Mildred thought of someone watching her. It opened the mind to too many disturbing possibilities, particularly since Mildred wouldn't know for sure if she was being watched at a specific time. Even some wizards were pedophiles, but Algernon wasn't going to scare Mildred that way._

 _Hecate Hardbroom had seen Mildred's practice of the Old Religion, had seen her eyes flash golden with the magical power and had seen her cast a shield spell to protect her work from Ethel Hallow. But she had never seen magic like this. Fire, wind, water, were all elemental magics which Hecate had heard of but had rarely seen. She herself could never hope to manipulate or use anything like this. It left her feeling humbled before Mildred, a feeling she didn't like considering her attitude towards the girl. When the girl had first stood in the centre of that circle of fire, Hecate had nearly dropped the invisibility spell and revealed their presence just to stop Mildred from getting hurt only to see that the girl knew what she was doing. And the potions mistress had felt the same awe reflected on Mildred's face, but that changed when Mildred began speaking to the room on a whole, to the one watching her._

 _Hecate was amazed._ _Mildred had figured it out. She knew who was watching her, she had joined the dots and was directly challenging them, not caring that she was speaking to whom was considered to be the most powerful and greatest of their kind in history. That bit about how she refused to let him twist her life as he had done hers was telling. Mildred obviously blamed Merlin for letting events spiral out of control, and it made her wonder just how much the girl knew about the situation that had happened so long ago. Part of Hecate believed Mildred had it all wrong. It wouldn't be the first time the girl had made a mistake, said something wrong about witches and magical culture despite her obvious best intentions. But she herself had read the history books in the library and knew that Merlin, despite his reputation and his deeds, had still been a human who made mistakes. Perhaps Mildred was being judgemental, but she knew one thing; Merlin had made catastrophic mistakes, listened to the wrong people, and threw Morgana down the path which eventually led to the Battle of Camnlann. Hecate didn't know if she even knew about her destiny as the next high priestess, but part of her doubted it, but she did know Mildred wouldn't want her life ruined the same way Morgana's had._

 _"Merlin," she whispered to her fellow teachers when Miss Drill's question broke through her reverie. "She knows Merlin is the one who gave her the magic book and is watching her."_

 _Ada's voice came over them all - none of the teachers could see the other (what would be the point of being covered by an invisibility spell if they were able to see each other?), but they could feel and hear each other through the ether of the spell. "I believe we have seen enough."_

* * *

After being made visible once again the staff sat in the staffroom to discuss and to debate what they had just witnessed. The history of magic was a truly murky and really contradictory tale, mostly because even in those days wizards and witches tended to live by themselves to avoid conflict and to avoid being burnt in a pyre because of the stupidity of normal people who simply wouldn't mind their own business. But the story of Merlin was a well known and celebrated tale, but the problem was the magical world glamorised it and only those who had bothered to really read into the stories of Merlin and King Arthur knew that while Merlin had protected and guided Arthur, he had done so from behind the scenes without revealing his powers at all.

The problem was the position of high priestess of the Old Religion had been tarnished by Morgause and Nimeuh, two really powerful sorceresses of their time, so Merlin's fear of Mildred falling into darkness was an understandable one even if it was unimaginable since it was Mildred Hubble.

Ada Cackle looked around the room. Everyone was tired, but they were skilled enough in magic to make themselves feel rested, though Hecate might be part with some of her supply of wide awake potion later. "I know its late. We are all tired, but we have seen quite a lot in the last two hours. My friend told me we can help Mildred with learning the magic of the Old Religion, but how do we go about it?"

"I doubt our knowledge of the Craft will make any difference," Hecate said. "The truth is can Mildred actually use the Craft now she is using the Old Religion?"

"We should be asking whether our knowledge can make a difference," one of the other teachers said, "will it help Mildred? I can't see how she can hope to become a high priestess with just one book to go on."

"Neither can I," Miss Drill sighed, this was out of her comfort zone. Give he a problem with girls flying broomsticks and she would have the answer, but she didn't this time. "No, I don't think we can help her," she sighed again after giving some serious thought on the matter, "the only reason we can teach the girls magic is because we have years of experience using the Craft, and we have had it handed down to us by our families and our old teachers. None of us barring those who can use the same magic Mildred's learning. We can't teach her anything if we don't know anything about the Old Religion itself."

The other teachers agreed with her after giving it some thought, though some agreed straightaway.

Algernon bit his lip. "I wonder…..," he whispered, but his voice carried and the others heard it.

"What is it, Mr Rowan-Webb?" Ada asked.

"I was just thinking. I have heard from a friend of a friend of a friend who knew a few spells of the Old Religion whilst learning the Wiccan arts that the two are more compatible than the Craft is," the wizard replied.

"But the Wiccan arts are later than the Old Religion," Hecate protested. "Besides, no other witch in this school can use it. Our students are only taught about it and what it entails."

"True, but they are close and they share many similar aspects with one another. I'll need to speak to them to find out more, but I'm positive that if we give Mildred a few texts on the arts of Wicca then she might learn more than what she is with that spell book. But the only drawback I can see is that it doesn't work, but what do we have to lose?" Algernon looked around the array of faces as they took in what he said, nodding when they saw he made sense. "Right, starting tomorrow, I'll get in touch with that friend of a friend, see what I can grasp while keeping a bare amount of information secret, and to see whether we should give Mildred a text on Wiccan magic."

"Good idea," Ada said, pleased that one member of staff had some ideas before she checked the time. Gosh it was late. "We'll meet again tomorrow, and carry on then. Sleep should clear our minds, because I feel we haven't entirely covered everything. Mr Rowan-Webb, please try to make sure we get that information quickly, but don't tell this friend of a friend of yours about the High priestess part."

"No need to worry." The wizard's reply was serious. He knew the risks.

* * *

The staff were quite pleased they had had time to sleep on the subject of Mildred Hubble learning about the Old Religion, but that didn't mean they hadn't had an easy night either. Algernon had come back from contacting his old friend, and judging by the look on his face he had good news.

"I was right," he said, "we can give Mildred books on Wiccan magic. According to my friend of a friend, a young wizard with the same potential she has accepted the Wiccan magic straightaway."

"That's….. quite something, normally we can't use Wiccan magic, it's too different from that of the Craft," Hecate said thoughtfully before she looked seriously into her colleague's face. "Can we get books?"

"Easily. He's sending two over," Algernon replied, "they should be here soon. Ada, what do we know about the high priestesses of the Old Religion?"

"I've been doing some studying on that front, asking Alice for advice and insight. We know they pierced the veil into the spirit world, they could control the power of life and death after spending years studying it. But beyond that I hardly think they're any different from other sorceresses."

Hecate snorted below her breath.

* * *

Later that evening Hecate and Ada returned to Mildred's bedroom. When they'd arrived the girl had been chatting with Maud and Enid before the other two girls had left Mildred on their own to go to bed. But Mildred was still up, The two witches watched the girl as she had her nose in the magic book Merlin had gifted her with. She didn't practice any of the spells, just browsed them like a student revising for a test.

Watching Mildred read the book with her eyes so passionate made Hecate realise that it wasn't so terrible to see, but ever since Mildred had begun attending the academy she had wanted the girl to struggle to become an exceptional witch. Granted she hadn't thought that at first, but then she had watched and heard of Mildred's struggles and was impressed by the girl's guile and ingenuity, and that was before the Old Religion became a factor.

While they watched Mildred sitting up in bed, reading quietly, occasionally casting one spell or another in the empty room before checking the book again, presumably to see if the spell was pronounced correctly before going back to her reading.

"I still can't believe it," she commented to Ada, making sure the invisibility spell prevented Mildred from knowing they were there; Hecate had to wonder how long it would be before Mildred realised they were there, and if the Craft did have some protection against the Old Religion, or if Mildred's general inexperience merely aided them. Hecate had to shudder at the thought of the girl being able to see them, it would take away one of the defining edges she had for maintaining order in the school.

"What don't you believe?"

"Mildred being able to use the Old Religion as you and I are able to use the Craft and brew potions," Hecate replied.

"Are you saying Mildred doesn't have the right to have a talent?"

"No, that's not it-"

"Hecate, look at yourself and me. Spells were always my strong point, yours are both spells and potions. For every wizard and witch they have their own strengths. I sometimes believe we expect too much of our first years, do you know why? We know that those girls have been training and learning magic at varying levels for years. Mildred never had that luxury, that's why I've given her so much leeway when it comes to learning, to help her catch up." Ada's voice became wistful. "When Alice first began learning how to use old magic and learn its ways, I watched her, saw the joy on her face. I have never seen that joy, not on any of my students faces since. Ironic, the Old Religion would choose a girl with no magical background-"

"That we know of," Hecate interrupted. "I have seen and overheard Mildred speak of her mother, and how she believes she's a witch."

"That's possible, just like its possible Mildred has witch ancestors who either began to lose their magic, or simply became disenchanted with our world," Ada said thoughtfully, "just like its possible Mildred is the first of her family to be a witch in the first place."

Hecate knew that idea made Mildred more unique than she already was, but she couldn't help but ask her next question, "Do you think she might have magical ancestry?"

Although she couldn't see her form, Hecate was certain Ada was shrugging her shoulders. "It's possible. But finding out is not guaranteed. You know that. Not only has Cackles had hundreds of students over the centuries, but so have other magical schools. Even if one shared the same last name as Mildred, how do we know its the same family? We can't. There's also the difficulty of knowing if her family have always had the name Hubble."

Hecate nodded grimly, realising the kind of problem Mildred faced. The records archive in the school wasn't a disorganised mess and was quite comprehensive if you know what you were looking for, but Mildred might not find what she was looking for. Hecate didn't know for instance when her own family had used the name 'Hardbroom' but she knew her ancestors had probably had other names.

But no matter what, Hecate Hardbroom knew that Mildred Hubble was one of the most unique students she'd ever had - yes, the girl was annoying, troublesome, but she did have a good heart. To Hecate, it didn't matter if Mildred was the first witch in her family, she was just glad the girl's powers were growing. But she hoped she didn't turn evil like Morgana.

* * *

Next time the Great Wizard returns. And that's when the trouble really begins.


	5. Chapter 5 The Great Wizard returns

The Great Wizard's return.

After the Spelling bee competition Mildred was shattered, sure that she'd made the right decision to not accept Miss Pentangle's kind offer for a scholarship, but truthfully Mildred was unsure why the woman who'd been so kind to her had offered it in the first place. While it had been compelling she didn't understand why Miss Pentangle would want her. What was in it for her? While Mildred was generally accepting and forgiving, even she had to admit there were selfish people out there who appeared kindly at first but in the long run didn't give a damn. Was Miss Pentangle the same? Why had she offered a scholarship in the first place? But after standing outside that room after tricking both the visiting headmistress and Miss Hardbroom that Miss Cackle wanted to see them and listening to their story and then their reconciliation, Mildred was sure she'd made the right decision.

Finding out Hardbroom had broken off the friendship due to a misconception wasn't a surprise - the woman seemed to make a habit of making them, but the story sounded so similar to the sort of thing Mildred herself had seen and heard in normal schools outside Cackle's. It was odd enough believing someone like HB even had friends, but despite the woman's prejudice towards her, Mildred was willing to have faith in almost anything.

Pentangle's admission that it was HB that mattered more to her than popularity and the attention she'd gained because of it was a surprise and it gave Mildred some insight into the woman's nature. And despite her best judgement Mildred couldn't help but think about the relationship between herself and Maud and Enid. She'd always wondered and feared that the pair of them would sooner or later announce they were only her friend out of pity rather than out of genuine kindness, but that was only due to the emotional blows Ethel regularly sent her way, her taunts about her coming from a non witching family; whether the idiot would learn a bit of creativity she didn't know. Mildred sighed and hoped that her fears about Maud and Enid would never come true, and yet part of her couldn't help but feel that it would and could happen to her one day.

She shook her head, making her groan a little bit, and thought about the rest of the day; she'd been so sure that there was a look of hidden gratitude on HB's face after the woman had caught her peeking in through the door, watching the hug between her and Pentangle. But she wasn't going to stake her life on the idea the woman was mellowing out, not after that frustrated comment the woman had made of her before the contest.

Mildred shook her head as she prepared for bed, blowing out a breath as she pulled her bed covers back and finding another plain white envelope nestled in her bed. She sighed and looked upwards, her mouth opening and an insult on the tip of her tongue before she decided it wasn't worth it. Besides she was just too tired.

Throwing herself onto the bed, just missing Tabby, Mildred picked the letter up and opened it. It wasn't a long letter like the last one had been. It said;

 ** _"Be careful. Something big is happening tomorrow, and you need to be on your guard. Be careful, future High priestess of the Old Religion. Well done for figuring out who I am."_**

It was, obviously, signed by Merlin; the ancient sorcerer realising there wasn't any point in hiding anymore, though how he was still alive Mildred didn't know. But Mildred didn't care by the signature, no she was more worried by the letter. What was happening tomorrow that was so important Merlin would send a letter? That part about being on her guard worried her, she knew it would be nothing good. But what frightened Mildred the most was the bit about her becoming the next high priestess of the Old Religion.

Mildred sat on her bed, her exhaustion forgotten. Her insides had turned to either jelly or to ice. She didn't want to become the high priestess of the Old Religion, not after what she'd heard about three of them. Mildred was certain Nimueh had been a hateful woman driven by loneliness, while Morgause and Morgana had both been twisted by fear and hatred to the point they believed revenge was all they had left.

She didn't want that for herself.

She had already promised herself to never allow herself become manipulated or pushed into a nice little niche that had been what Merlin had done to both Mordred and Morgana. Mildred had no intention of allowing herself to be pushed down a spiral path of bitterness and revenge because of one old man's inability to think for himself and take calculated risks to make sure that what he'd been told never came to pass.

She felt numb. Mildred simply didn't know or understand what a high priestess did besides worship the Triple goddess, but beyond that she simply didn't know what a priestess did. The fact that three of them had been cold blooded murderers didn't help, and it made her a little afraid for the future.

* * *

Okay, crashing into her best friend's bedroom might not have been the best idea Maud Spellbody had come up with in her young life, but she was too excited, scared and shocked by the surprise arrival that she forgot her manners. Mildred barely stirred from her pile of messed up duvet, her messy dark hair draped all over the pillow, the duvet, and her cat Tabby. Maud idly noticed the old book lying next to her friend, but she ignored it; Mildred was so obsessed by the idea her family had magic in it that it was becoming more common to see her in the relevant sections of the library where such knowledge was stored.

Personally Maud didn't care if her friend had any such ancestors, to her it didn't matter if Mildred had a witch or wizard in her family tree that she didn't know about, all that mattered was she was here now. Maybe Mildred was the first in her family to possess the gift of magic or maybe there was someone in her family history she didn't know about who did have magic, but it didn't matter. Maud knew only too well how upset Mildred became whenever she was bullied or teased about her background outside the walls of the academy, but since Maud's own family had ties to that world she didn't let it guide the way she hung out with Mildred. But she did need to begin lessons with Mildred to make her less of a target for those girls who routinely bullied her.

"Mildred, wake up! Quickly, you need to get dressed!"

Mildred mumbled a few incoherent words and just sunk her face deeper into the pillow. Maud sighed and shook Mildred violently. "Wake up, Millie, you need to wake up!"

Mildred grumbled as she blinked her eyes open. She squinted through half asleep eyes at her best friend. "What?"

"Mildred, you need to get dressed, quickly. The Great Wizard's back."

Mildred shook her head slightly to make herself more awake. "Maud, what-?" she asked, getting the message but not processing it.

"The Great Wizard's back," Maud repeated patiently as she got off the bed and stepped back to give Mildred more space to get up. Tabby meowed in protest as his mistress got up, still blinking rapidly to clear her eyes of sleep. "The Great Wizard? What does he want now?" she asked, trying to hide her sudden worry as the memory of finding that letter and what it had said re-entered her brain.

"I don't know. I've just found out myself."

Mildred hid a sigh. She didn't need this, she didn't need the hassle which was the drama that came by being the only girl from the outside world in a world of magic. "Maybe I should just stay in here and sleep," she suggested aloud. She didn't want to meet the Great Wizard again. She looked up and saw the disapproving look on Maud's face. She sighed again, knowing that once more she was acting indifferent to something her best friend had grown up with but truly Mildred didn't care about the Great Wizard and the hype surrounding him. "Maud, when I first met him he came into this school with a letter written by Agatha, and he didn't react well when she told him I was the first student this school has taken from a non witchy family. I didn't grow up hearing about him like you did."

Maud lost some of her disapproving look. She knew Mildred was right about that. She hadn't exactly witnessed the broomstick display Agatha had tried to use to discredit her sister but had nearly killed Enid and Mildred, but she had witnessed the way the man had treated her best friend after that spells display went wrong. Personally Maud felt it really unfair the way people judged Mildred without properly knowing her. Maud had known Mildred for a short time, and guessed that the prejudice towards her was one of the reasons why Mildred got so many things wrong. In the case of the Great Wizard she had grown up hearing how powerful and wise he was, that just meeting him was an honour. That kind of privilege was like gold, but Mildred didn't care about that. She was under enough pressure with the teachers as it was, she didn't need someone as powerful as the Great Wizard breathing down her neck.

Mildred licked her lips. "Could you give me a few minutes Maud, I need to get dressed."

Maud nodded and left.

Even as she got out bed and winced at the movement and wriggled her toes and feet to get some life into them after they'd been lying in a single position for hours, Mildred wondered why the Great Wizard was back, and she felt trepidation. Why was he here? One thought sprang to her mind, and she hoped it wasn't that. The last time the Great Wizard was here, all hell had broken loose and she wasn't going to forget that death defying ride on that broomstick either. All because of Agatha Cackle. Just thinking of Miss Cackle's vile twin made Mildred wish for an ibuprofen and wish the twin of her headmistress would do something with herself. What else could she do; she was isolated, her magical powers were gone, why couldn't she move on?

A few minutes later she'd left her bedroom, dressed in her uniform with its red sash - another sign of Hardbroom's segregationist attitude towards her, though now Mildred simply didn't care - with her hair in a ponytail rather than the customary plaits. She didn't have the time for more elaborate styles and besides she needed the change in appearance though truly Mildred didn't care what she looked like much. But Mildred had needed to do one thing before she'd left her room. She'd hidden the magic book; she'd been careless enough to leave it lying on her bed like that but she had been up learning more about the Old Religion. She'd been hoping to find out more about the practices of the high priestesses to get a better idea of what they did and who they were after reading Merlin's latest letter and it wasn't until she was falling asleep that she realised she needed rest, but she hadn't had time to put it away. With the Great Wizard in the school she couldn't take the chance of him demanding she give it to him. Something primal roared in her very being at the thought of the magic book being taken away from her which had once been Merlin's mentor's book before the man himself had it, and now it was her magic book. She didn't intend to hand it over. She'd attack him and defend herself if he tried. The thought of showing that pompous hypocrite a thing or too made her smile. Mildred wasn't a horrible person, by her very nature she was a kind, patient and gentle soul, but even she had her limits.

If some people argued that that attitude and stance was similar to other practitioners of the Old Religion, then Mildred could argue. She genuinely believed that the reason why Camelot had so many magical enemies was because of their ignorance, they simply didn't realise they may piss off a sorcerer who was too powerful for their knights to overwhelm. Morgana was one of the greatest threats Camelot had ever seen, as were her predecessors Morgause and Nimueh. But Mildred was nothing like Morgana. Oh she would fight tooth and nail to protect the magic book which Merlin had given her, but she wouldn't let the power of the Old Religion get to her the way the last priestesses had, but truthfully Mildred thought there was a lot more to their actions than Uther Pendragon's one dimensional view that it was magic that had turned them evil. Personally she believed it was a combination of hatred, anger, loneliness and misery towards the crimes Camelot and its people had committed towards magic, and all magic did was give the last priestesses the means and the power to commit evil acts.

The moment she walked into the Great Hall her eyes picked out the form of the Great Wizard at once. He was dressed in the same dark blue clothes he'd worn when she'd first met him. He was surrounded by a small entourage, a few wizards and a few witches as well as the entire faculty of the school. Probably friends of his, people who were powerful like him. Mildred had already felt nervous when she'd heard the Great Wizard was here because she hadn't expected him back at Cackles after they had resolved that mess only only a few weeks ago, and her worry only grew when she saw his eyes immediately pick her out and track her all the way to her seat. Mildred felt like a deer being stalked by a hunter waiting to line her up in the sights of his rifle, just waiting to take the shot.

Mildred broke eye contact with the wizard and studied the other members of his group, and what she saw terrified her. Like their boss they had been following her movements without saying a word. It was creepy that adult witches and wizards paid this much attention towards her, especially since she'd never actually met them. The Great Wizard had already met her, these people were strangers and had never met her before and yet they paid her more attention than the other girls.

Mildred looked around and noticed that a few of the more perceptive girls had noticed the attention and sent her puzzled glances, clearly wondering why she was singled out. Her worry only grew, and unfortunately Maud noticed it. "Why are they looking at you, Millie?" she whispered. Fortunately the Great Wizard, with a sign from Miss Cackle who gave her permission for him to speak, spoke and that put an end to any speculation from the other girls and it also stopped Mildred from making up a reply to answer Maud's question.

The Great Wizard opened his arms out to the school in greeting to the school. "It is good to return to this school, hopefully under better circumstances than on my previous visit," he began. Mildred frowned, remembering the humiliation Agatha Cackle's letter to the man standing up and speaking had caused her. She also noticed that the wizard didn't elaborate and she was grateful to him for that, she didn't need any reminders of the death defying nightmare she and Enid had been put through because Agatha Cackle had played one of those games of hers. But the Wizard kept speaking though one or two of the girls in the hall sent looks towards where Mildred was sitting, remembering for themselves what had happened; a girl screaming on her broomstick as it rocketed through the air and then dropping like a stone before Enid had rescued her, only for her own broom to be damaged was a source of drama that the girls would not forget in a hurry.

The wizard's next words mystified many of the girls with the exception of one or two, but for one this was a nightmare coming true. "Centuries ago our ancestors used the magic known as the Old Religion, which then started to decline, paving the way for the Craft," he said, looking at each of the girls in turn. Mildred, despite the paralysing fear in her gut, looked around and saw puzzlement and recognition on some of their faces along with bewilderment. Some of them had clearly heard of the Old Religion but didn't know precisely what it was and why the Great Wizard was even talking about it, to outright ignorance; it annoyed Mildred that some of these girls didn't know anything about Merlin, Morgana, the Great Purge orchestrated by Uther Pendragon. Almost as though he was reading her mind, the Wizard went on, "The Old Religion had been in decline since the days of Merlin and Morgana, but even with the emergence of the Craft and other magical arts, it was a rare occurrence for any one to suddenly use its power."

Oh, no. No, please don't. Mildred swallowed hard when she guessed where this was going, forgetting that Maud and Enid were sitting on either side of her and had heard her gulp. Both girls exchanged worried looks around their best friend, but their worry grew when they noticed the dark haired girl's hands beginning to bunch on her lap. What was going on?

The Great Wizard paused and took that second to look around the room to study the faces of all the children in the hall. Many of them had clearly recognised the Old Religion and its practices, but that wasn't anything new; the Great Wizard knew many of the traditions and practices of the Old Religion were still in existence and many of the girls here along with students in other schools like Pentengle's practiced them. He saw the looks of bewilderment on some of the girl's faces, and sighed mentally. Their ignorance wasn't anything new to him either, but that was to be expected. So many people didn't like remembering the Great Purge started by Uther Pendragon which had opened the door to the decline of the Old Religion.

Unbidden his gaze turned to the girl he was subtly speaking about. The look of fear on her face briefly made him take a metaphorical step back and rethink what he was doing. He had planned on making this speech for a good reason, to make people see that Mildred Hubble wasn't a failure and just had a gift they didn't have, but he hadn't expected to see fear on the girl's face. For a second he was unsure what he should do, but he decided he should just go ahead and finish, he'd practically said most of it already. What harm could it do?

"These individuals, while rare, have been known to be incredibly powerful, and they have helped our society grow over the centuries. Do not ever forget that." The wizard paused again for dramatic effect, his eyes scanning the faces of each girl. Perfect, he thought, time for the grand finale. And so, ignoring the looks and gestures coming from both Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom, he went on, "11 years ago, on-" he gave a date that meant nothing to all but one of the girls, who suddenly sat wooden, thinking " _That's my birthday!"_ and feeling more than a little terrified as the wizard went on, wishing he would just shut up, "those who follow the Old Religion felt excited. For many years you see, children, the Old Religion has been regaining power to allow the Triple goddess access to this world, but to do that a high priestess has been needed, to breach the gulf between the Craft and the Old Religion. This high priestess will be the first to emerge for over a millennium since Morgana Pendragon herself. She is here, one of you, a student in this school."

Oh god, no. Mildred felt physically sick. Her mind went back to that letter. Merlin had meant this, but she had never pictured the Great Wizard himself coming back so soon to Cackles and speaking about what she was supposedly going to become. The idiot, he was going to announce something she herself was trying to come to terms with. The air felt stifling, she had to get out of the hall. Fast. But her legs wouldn't move, they wouldn't obey her commands to move. The Great Wizard, who'd been speaking with such passion, suddenly calmed down. That gave Mildred a chance to look at the faces around him and around her. She watched with growing horror that neither Hardbroom or any of the other teachers were surprised by the topic today, but they were a little unnerved by what the wizard was doing.

"They know," she said aloud in a whisper before she had a chance to check her words, and she winced when Enid asked, "Millie, what do you mean?"

But then realisation appeared and spread across her friends's features before the idiot speaking finished his announcement, "That girl is Mildred Hubble."

Mildred was physically shaking, she was hyperventilating. She pressed a hand over her chest, feeling her heart. They knew now, they knew she was going to be something she hadn't exactly come to terms with herself. Oh, why?! How? How had they found out?! How had that pompous old fool found out about her secret, and how dare he announce it to the school? She looked at them up there, her teachers. All of them were looking at her. She ignored Tapioca, that sour, rank, disgusting woman who had such a terrible personality…. that one's opinion didn't interest her, and woe betide her if she tried to do anything to her beloved cat again, just like she ignored some of the other teachers.

Mr Rowan-Webb and Miss Bat both looked awkward, and she was grateful for the pair of them shooting glares at the Great Wizard, clearly disapproving of what he'd just done. Miss Drill was looking more awkward but she kept sending shy, uncertain smiles Mildred's way, but the girl didn't know how to interpret them. She wasn't sure if the older witch was trying to be kind or just smiling because she didn't know what to do.

And then she turned to Hardbroom and saw the annoyed looks she was sending towards the wizard, clearly disapproving and not at all afraid to show her feelings. Mildred blinked in surprise when she saw the emotion on HB's face. If Drill was unsure how to show her feelings to this news, then HB was the total opposite. The potions mistress and Mildred's harshest critic was looking at her with something akin to pride, something Mildred had always considered impossible. But while Mildred was happy that HB was at last looking at her with an expression that wasn't scorn or white hot anger, she did wish the woman hadn't intruded on her life like that. She had a good guess how the teachers had found out about her and the Old Religion. And it sickened her.

Finally she turned her gaze to Miss Cackle. The woman's usual beaming smile that made her so approachable was dimmed down slightly, and the disapproving looks she was sending towards the wizard, and her smile was even dimmer when she looked at Mildred. She looked apologetic for having all this broadcasted to the school.

Mildred slowly stood up, and began looking around the hall. The first girl she locked eyes with was Ethel Hallow, and joys of joys she looked furious at her being singled out like that by the Great Wizard of all people. Great. She could now expect more grief from her self proclaimed enemy who wanted to see her fail at everything just so she could feel good about herself. Mildred broke eye contact with Ethel, knowing the blonde well enough to guess she was going to make life more difficult than it was already, and focused on the other girls, noting shock, envy, surprise and thankfully for some ignorance of the history behind the role of high priestess, but for some of the girls like Esmerelda Hallow there was awe on their faces.

But it took a conscious effort and all of her control to look at Enid and Maud. Both girls were looking at her…..differently than normal. There was awe mixing with envy that worried Mildred, she knew envy was a step below jealousy, and their expressions, so alien on their faces, frightened her. Pure white hot anger boiled away inside her, and she knew the perfect targets. Some of her emotions must have been visible on her face because everyone recoiled and just for show, Mildred let some of her power leak into her eyes, turning them a burning bright golden in colour. Seeing the colour of her eyes and feeling the power radiating off Mildred convinced everyone she was a powerful sorceress in the making. That was when something entered her mind.

Reaching out to everyone in the room with her magic, Mildred smirked when everyone recoiled when she said in their minds, " ** _Don't be afraid, I'm still the same person."_** But that quickly changed when she blasted the teachers and the Great Wizard though everyone heard it as clearly as they would if she'd spoken aloud, " ** _How dare you do this to me!"_**

Merlin had left helpful notes in the book at the back, notes about things the magic book simply didn't describe, including being able to speak to other people with the power of the mind. Mildred knew about telepathy, knew it was one of those sub-staples of science fiction and fantasy, and after reading Merlin's descriptions and hints on how it worked she found that it was easy to speak to someone in their heads and even read thoughts. She'd brushed her mind against some of the other girls to try it out.

Mildred wasn't comfortable using telepathy. There was something….wrong about peering inside someone's mind and reading them. And it wasn't a common gift used by modern witches and wizards if the books she'd found in the library were anything to go by. But now everyone knew she could do it, and Mildred was suddenly worried about what they would all do now they knew she could speak to them inside their brains. She had acted impulsively, and it would only take one girl saying she would look into all their minds then everyone would gang up on her. The girls winced when Mildred, in a fit of fear, sent that terrified thought to all of them. The teachers were no better.

The Great Wizard and the teachers recoiled when Mildred sent one last message into their heads, the anger rolling off her in waves at the thought of being hunted down and killed like an animal. No wonder Morgana had been driven mad when so many idiots drove her up the wall, yes and that included Merlin. " ** _Thank you very much! You couldn't just talk to me in private could you, no, too much effort."_**

Mildred's eyes shot open in horror when her magic shattered all the glass windows in the hall. Her mouth dropped when she saw the glass rain down over the hall, causing everyone to scream. Instinctively Mildred reacted, her eyes flashing gold as she froze the glass from falling onto the heads of some of the girls. "Get out of there," Mildred said, but the stunned girls just looked between the shattered panes of glass and the girl who'd just saved them from a the shower, unresponsive. Finally Mildred lost her patience. "GET OUT OF THERE!" she shouted.

The girls reacted, jumping out of the way just as Mildred released the spell and dropped the glass onto the floor. Mildred jumped back herself, looking fearfully at the glass and the girls looking at her in sudden fear. That was the final straw as far as Mildred was concerned, and she was certain now someone out there would hear about this and take it upon themselves to kill her. Tears filled her eyes and she sniffed and tried to blink them away, but it was no use. They still fell. "I'm sorry," she whispered to them. "I'm so sorry." She turned to face the teachers and saw they weren't impressed by what she had done in her moment of anger.

Mildred had made her mind up at that point. She had been used as a punching bag though some of the people actually hitting her hadn't meant for things to get this bad. The girl had just turned around to run back to her bedroom and pack everything she had and get out of Cackles while she still could, but just as she was turning a familiar voice said, "How did all this glass shatter? That's an health and safety hazard."

The girls collectively groaned when they saw the figure who was now standing in the doorway into the hall.

Miss Gullet had returned.


	6. Chapter 6 The Revenge of Miss Gullet

SuperOncer5 - Thanks for saying its amazing, and I can tell you I've got no intention of not finishing this story.

Alexanne2017 - Thanks. I see the Great Wizard as a politician, plain and simple.

ImaginationOfAFan - It was inevitable everyone would find out about Mildred. Unfortunately the Great Wizard went about it all the wrong way.

Guest - I'm not going to give up.

Disclaimer - Jill Murphy owns the Worst Witch franchise, not me.

PS - Did you like the ending of the latest episode 'Out of Bounds?' Have you watched the sneak peak of the next episode, who'd have thought Mildred would have been so betrayed and upset she would have canceled the messaging spell Maud had used to get in touch with her? Shows even Mildred has her breaking point.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

The Revenge of Miss Gullet.

Like everyone else in the hall, the teachers were surprised by the former spell science teacher's return, and Miss Cackle walked to where the student witch and her former spells science teacher was standing. In the corner of her eye she picked out Hecate's distinctive form following her. Despite being upset with Mildred for losing her temper and shattering all the glass windows in the hall, Miss Cackle couldn't help but feel vindicated. She and Hecate had warned the Great Wizard not to make such a public spectacle out of all of this, but even they hadn't expected this disaster to take place. Both Ada and Hecate had learnt enough of Mildred's personality to know, or at least guess, that the girl did not like being the centre of attention. Good grief, she was in trouble every other day, and was often on the receiving end of a harsh rebuke in front of her classmates, so it was probable that the girl really didn't like attention brought onto her. And after having Mildred broadcast those telepathic fears of being hunted down and killed without mercy because people were too stupid and fearful of others abilities, Miss Cackle tried to see things from Mildred's point of view. The poor girl had spent weeks practicing comfortably in her room the magic of the Old Religion and in the space of an hour it was out in the open and everyone knew what she was destined to become. Miss Cackle felt bad, she hadn't expected things to get this bad, though she had known it would be bad.

Why had the Great Wizard exposed her that way? What did he hope to gain? Alice's powers had never been exposed on this level, was it because of what Mildred was going to become that he'd acted the way he had? Still, Ada had other concerns as she hurried to the door where Mildred was standing with Miss Gullet in front of her. Why had she come back to Cackles? Her crimes meant she was not welcome in this school, or in others ever again. As she and Hecate came to a stop, Ada put a hand on Mildred's shoulder, but the girl didn't turn around. **_"Why did you let him reveal all that in front of everyone?"_** Mildred sent to her mind.

Ada licked her lips, debating before deciding the issue could wait for now. Mildred didn't sound happy and she wanted answers that she did deserve. Looking at the former teacher through narrowed eyes. "Miss Gullet," she greeted, not taking her hand off Mildred's shoulder. "I wasn't expecting to see you again. Why have you come back?"

Miss Gullet's face became as neutral as possible, but she didn't close come to HB level neutrality and coldness. "I was hoping to discuss with you the prospect of teaching again."

What? Everyone in the hall either gasped or muttered in surprise at the woman's audacity. Mildred herself was surprised, but not by much; she didn't pretend to know the ins and outs of the Witches code, but she did occasionally look at the rules to make sure she didn't accidentally cause any trouble. She'd quickly started skimming the rules to keep one step ahead of Ethel and HB in case she did something without meaning to and even Cackle's protection wouldn't help her in the long run. But she had quickly learnt about Agatha's punishments and looked them up. Agatha's crimes had endangered lives, her little trick in using the code to ensure a smooth transition had been a loophole designed for those in families with a claim to a property to obey them. Unfortunately, because she had attempted a hostile takeover and had been defeated, and that children had been involved, that had given Miss Cackle permission to take her powers.

Miss Gullet's crimes were just as serious. The woman had stolen the job of another simply because she needed it and wasn't about to lose out to a wizard. And she had been caught, her crimes were documented, and she had been dismissed. Second chances under the code were possible, but not after a specific amount of time. It had been written that way to make sure the one fired had a chance of repentance. Mildred could understand and even approve of that little rule, but she doubted the former teacher had really repented. The irritating woman who was as annoying as HB had only been gone a few weeks. And judging by the way the students had reacted, they didn't believe it either.

Neither did Hardbroom. "You know that we cannot allow that; not only are you violating the code by being here, you have come before the repentance stage is up," the dark potions mistress spoke in her usual low, silky voice.

Mildred watched Miss Gullet's face become angrier before she tried to school her emotions and her face, but she was too late. Her anger was so palpable you could feel it across the room. But Mildred didn't care - she was too emotionally worn out after what had just happened. She didn't want to be involved, she just wanted to get to her room, pack her stuff and leave the school before she was either expelled or hunted down and killed. She didn't care one bit if Miss Gullet was in front of her, she couldn't care less if the woman had repented for her crime against Mr Rowan-Webb - she actually found it cheeky that the stupid woman had just waltzed into the castle, begging for her old job back - she just wanted the teachers to do the work and just get on with her own life. It was the least they could do after revealing her study of the Old Religion, and calling it secret was clearly not feasible than she thought it had been. Just as that thought ended in her mind Miss Cackle said something that made Mildred pay attention to the unexpected meeting with Miss Gullet. "How did you get in the castle anyway, the wards around the castle were locked to keep you out?" she said.

Miss Gullet smiled a toothy smile at her former boss. "I found out about the Great Wizard's unexpected visit, odd since he was 'ere before," she replied in her cockney accent before her voice became whiny, reminding those who had been in the same classroom when Mr Rowan-Webb was returned to human form. "So I used the opportunity to come and present my case. Please, Miss Cackle. I want to work 'ere again. Cackles was my favourite job." Mildred lifted a brow at her whiny tone. She half expected Miss Gullet to get down on her bended knees, hands outstretched and clasped as though begging, imitating Oliver when the Victorian boy said "Please sir, I'd like some more." For kicks, she telepathically sent a memory of the scene of the movie she had watched with her mother to everyone in the room, the exact scene down to the whiny tone.

Miss Gullet blinked in surprise when everyone looked startled, and then for no apparent reason began snickering or laughing. What was so funny? Even HB had to struggle to contain her laughter. It was made more ridiculous because Miss Gullet wasn't even let in on the joke, but nothing new there.

And yet….something wasn't right with that reply, and when Mildred heard it again in her mind she realised what it was, and a quick glance behind told her some of the other girls had picked it out as well, but before she could actually say it HB was the one to voice the question on their minds.

"How did you know the Great Wizard was here before?" she asked dangerously ignoring the statement about the school, making Miss Gullet blanch at her mistake and slip of the tongue. But this time Mildred didn't keep silent. She found herself simply not caring anymore about keeping her mouth shut after the last month of secretly studying what was in the magic book Merlin himself had owned a thousand years ago was exposed for everyone to know, and after having her privacy interrupted in such a manner why shouldn't she? And if the teachers were stupid enough to tell her to shut up, well, she would say she'd done her best to become more confident and at peace with herself than ever.

"You know when the Great Wizard showed me that letter, you know the letter that complained about me being here and everything that had happened since, I asked him who'd written it to him, but he didn't say. He simply didn't know" she said, "I thought, well we all thought that Ethel Hallow had written to him. That letter had everything in such detail; me turning Ethel into a pig, her changing me into a frog, all of those little disasters around me…..so much detail. But she said it wasn't her, she didn't even know what we were talking about when she was confronted and Miss Cackle's job here was in jeopardy. Later when Agatha was so stupid to snap at me and tried to cast that spell and failed, it began to make sense to me," Mildred said, narrowing her eyes. Miss Gullet stepped back, eyes and mouth wide open when she saw the colour of Mildred's eyes flashing gold. "Miss Cackle has been angry with me in the past, but she would at least listen to me. It wasn't until that night after my friend and I almost died on that broomstick an idea came to mind. You had just been fired from your position here after years of working, your crime of turning an innocent man into a frog just so you could have his job - what's the matter, you couldn't find other work? Are you that incompetently desperate for work you only applied for one job?

"You met up with Agatha, didn't you Miss Gullet? You helped her with that plan to get your revenge on Miss Cackle for firing you, and on Mr Rowan-Webb, and get me kicked out as a bonus, didn't you? It must have made your day when Agatha told you she'd made sure I'd be leading that broomstick display on a cursed broomstick, showing that not only doesn't she not give a toss about the lives of the students so long as she had the castle, neither did you, for all that boring talk about health and safety. You haven't repented at all," Mildred shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't tell anyone because it was just a theory and I didn't have a shred of proof, something you've just proven, so thanks. Anyway, bye."

"Where are you going?" Miss Hardbroom asked the departing girl. Mildred turned her head, her mouth already opening to deliver a response but Miss Gullet got to Mildred first before the girl could answer the potion mistress's question. Mildred had just literally reached the doors of the hall when the former teacher reached her. Their closeness was measured by just a foot. "Actually Mildred, I did have a reason for comin' 'ere," she grinned. Mildred didn't like that grin. But before she could ask what the ex teacher meant, that was when Miss Gullet struck.

There was a flash of movement and a glint of polished metal and Mildred suddenly screamed in pain as the knife the former teacher was holding was plunged into her belly. The scream startled everyone in the hall and making them cry out at the sudden loudness.

Through the pain Miss Gullet snarled in the girl's face. Agatha had told her that until they had a plan for taking control of the school, and they were installed in their rightful places they couldn't draw any attention to themselves. But she couldn't wait. She wanted revenge against Mildred Hubble. The little bitch had to pay for what she had done, and while she knew Agatha would disapprove she couldn't do anything about it without her magic. "That's for costing me my job, you little-" she began but Mildred lost control of her magic again before Miss Gullet could finish her little insult, and she threw out a blood stained arm at the teacher. Miss Gullet was thrown aside by the wave of magic that hit her in the chest with the force of a tank collision as Mildred staggered from the stabbing clutching her side. The girl was barely aware of the spells science teacher at that point. In fact she didn't give a damn if she was seriously hurt, she was too busy thinking of herself and the pain she was in. With the pain, there was something else. This time, instead of anger that her personal life had been prised open and displayed like a book in a museum, her magic was augmented by the sheer pain she felt at being stabbed. The backlash caused the castle itself to shake as the new nascent high priestess of the Old Religion was in agony, and the walls themselves cracked as the magic rippled through them. The shaking caused Hardbroom and Cackle to drop to the ground themselves, so they were out of the fight, though if it could be called that Mildred didn't really know. Miss Gullet, shocked by the shaking of the castle, pulled away. Mildred staggered back from the former teacher herself as the screams abated, her hand reflexively going to her front as she dropped to her knees, her head swimming. She heard voices behind her, voices that sounded like Maud and Enid, but Mildred was so out of it she didn't pay any attention. After somehow getting back on her feet Miss Gullet grinned maliciously as she held the knife she'd just used to stab Mildred, the blade dripping with the girls blood. The girl lost the battle to stand upright and fell to the floor, wincing as her knees made contact with the hard stone, blood soaking her clothes.

But her grin faded when Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle instantly jumped into the fray, and she cursed herself for having forgotten them, but she had been so focused on getting revenge on Mildred that she'd forgotten. Big mistake, and she stepped back and got into a stance to defend herself, but Mildred's head shot up. Miss Gullet gasped when she saw the girls golden irises, bewildered again by what she was seeing. Why was Mildred suddenly getting gold eyes?

* * *

Mildred closed her eyes for a brief second, focusing her mind on directing her magic into healing the bleeding wound she'd just received using a simple incantation she'd found in the magic book Merlin had given her. It was slow at first, but the pain began to recede though only just.

Mildred's eyes shot open again and she gave a mighty push with her magic that threw Miss Gullet out of the hall. She wanted the older witch to just go away, but Mildred stayed where she was, her eyes still golden as she watched Miss Gullet stand up shakily. Mildred was still in a partial state of shock; she'd have had to be really stupid to not have expected Gullet to hate her; the woman hadn't been her biggest fan before the truth of her crimes had come out and she'd exposed them for the teachers to find out before Miss Gullet was turned into a frog herself and then back into a human again before being formerly dismissed from Cackles, but she hadn't expected that hate to coalesce into a full on murder attempt. She felt numb after being stabbed, and although there was fresh, warm blood soaking on her hands her wound wasn't bad. She wasn't dying. Mildred guessed that the rank of high priestess had something to do with it because she knew the injury was almost totally fatal, but she didn't care; there would be plenty of time to deal with that and learn more. In the meantime, she had other problems. Someone had just tried to murder her, in front of witnesses. In a school. She and the teachers had been taken by surprise. Mildred felt physically sick and cold that someone had just stabbed her like that. She'd never imagined Miss Gullet would try something so drastic, so horrifying, sure the woman was malicious and not above turning someone into a frog just for a job but she'd never expected her to actually try to murder someone, especially a girl barely into her teens. It made her realise something terrible.

It would happen again. A vision came to her of an older Ethel Hallow coming to kill her if they didn't go their own separate ways and pretended they didn't know each other. Again, those voices cut into her mind and this time she glanced over her shoulder. What she saw warmed her heart after thinking they were jealous and wanted nothing more to do with her - the main reason she'd been desperate to get out along with the fear of hurting others who didn't deserve it. Miss Bat and Mr Rowan-Webb were holding a desperate looking Maud and Enid, who were fighting tooth and nail to get to her. Both girls were struggling so hard the teachers were resorting to magic to hold them back. A grunt from where Miss Gullet had fallen made Mildred turn around again, and she saw Miss Gullet struggling to get up on shaky legs but couldn't find any purchase on the floor before she succeeded in righting herself enough to stand up. She looked a bit shell shocked, almost as if she couldn't really remember what had happened, but the fear on her face told a different story when she looked at the girl.

Although she had never considered herself worthy of being feared - even Ethel Hallow hadn't done anything to make Mildred truly afraid because the blond was just too petty and jealous towards her sister that she used it as an excuse to bully others, though truthfully there was nothing terrifying about the blond at all. Nervous, yes because you never completely knew what the twisted girl was going to come up with next, but Ethel wasn't terrifying because Mildred didn't believe conflict was necessary, not when they could talk about it instead of wasting time and lives fighting. Mildred was glad that Miss Gullet was beginning to wish that she'd come up with a better plan, but didn't delude herself. She felt a kind of primal satisfaction the woman was terrified of her, but that was probably due to the plan Miss Gullet had come up with had blown up in her face, out of all proportion. Mildred sighed as she concentrated on standing up, her mind going through all the spells she could use to stop this from getting out of hand, but unfortunately her lack of attention allowed Gullet to fire another spell her way.

One minute Mildred had been standing up, the next she was suddenly blown away, landing a good few feet from where she'd just been. The fall was so hard Mildred actually hit her head on the floor. "Ow!" she cried, wincing in pain and squeezing her eyes shut. She felt sore all over, but she pushed the pain aside and managed to lift her aching head up so she could see Miss Gullet battling Hardbroom and Cackle, and the Great Wizard himself - when had he joined into the fray, with the rest of his entourage - and they were busy wearing Miss Gullet down. A few of the girls came over to her, asking if she was alright but Mildred ignored them, including Maud and Enid. She was too lost in pain and anger to truly process what they were saying to her.

Enough, she said to herself, pulling herself upright into a higher position, a plan quickly forming in her mind. Summoning her magic and channeling it into the spell powerful enough to grab the attention of Cackle and the others, but not enough to hurt them. She just needed them out of the way. Everyone jumped and cowered away as the hall flashed a blinding white light as lightning blasted the Great Wizard and his entourage off their feet and hurled them back a short distance, the thunder echoing around the hall like the terrifying wing beats of a dragon. HB, shocked by the events, turned to Mildred.

"Mildred-"

But Mildred refused to listen. " ** _STAY OUT OF THIS!"_** she cried in their minds, making sure everyone heard it before sending Miss Hardbroom flying backwards with a push before doing the same to Cackle before she turned her gaze back to Miss Gullet; she knew she'd just crossed a line by attacking the teachers and the Great Wizard and his entourage, but what she had in mind for Miss Gullet was dangerous and potentially lethal. Mildred grinned and used the same spell she'd just cast on HB to knock her off her own feet. The spells science teacher picked herself up quickly and rushed for the door, but with a thought Mildred closed and locked it. Miss Gullet had become tired with fighting so many opponents at the same time, and she was terrified that the playing field which had started out on such a level footing had gone downhill. Not for the first time in her life she wished she had really studied magical duelling, but her arrogance had told her that her knowledge of spells and quick mind meant she didn't really need to. Now she was regretting that decision and seeing its consequences unfold before her. Miss Gullet had almost literally jumped out of her skin when everyone had been blown off their feet and hurled away from that lightning spell. Lightning! Weather spells were never used in defence, they weren't powerful enough to cause damage which was why they were never used. But her surprise was genuine when Miss Hardbroom had looked at the girl still on the floor and said her name. Impossible! Mildred Hubble was a useless girl, she got her spells wrong and everything, she simply didn't have the power or the knowledge to use a spell like that. But Miss Gullet wasn't stupid; that knife wound was fatal and yet she was unharmed and she'd managed to somehow heal herself, that was impossible even for a witch like Cackle or Hardbroom. Then she had heard something in her mind, a voice telling everyone to stay out of this. It had sounded distant, like a voice faraway on the air, but she had heard it, and the most weird thing was it sounded like Mildred's voice. How was that possible? Telepathy, whilst possible, hadn't never been used by someone with the Craft for centuries, the secret lost in time.

How had Mildred found it, if it was her?

Terror had caught hold of her mind - Miss Gullet knew running away would only make her look weak as a witch, but she didn't care - and so she'd tried to run out of the hall. She would have fought on if the playing field was level enough and they were using spells she understood, but what was the point? But the door slammed shut with the lock audibly clicking into place. She was trapped in the hall with witnesses to a murder she had considered worth it but had failed because the little bitch simply would not die and there was no way she could escape.

Mildred knew this was going too far, and she wanted it to end. She searched her mind for a worthwhile spell and found one that would literally shake Miss Gullet up, but not kill her. Well, unless she was careful.

Mildred opened her mouth and began to chant,"Ic her aciege ænne windræs!" Everyone gasped when the whirlwind was conjured in the hall before them. It was small but really getting bigger and bigger, becoming increasingly more powerful and making everyone's loose hair whip around and the people further back on the other side could feel the wind blow their hair. Mildred began to pick herself up off the floor, never stopping the chant as her voice grew louder and the wind began whipping through everyone's hair. "Færblæd wawe! Windræs ungetermed: gehiere!" Miss Gullet was terrified, hardly believing what her senses were telling her though she wasn't the only one, and shouting something about health and safety, but no-one barring those closest to her could hear her over the wailing of the whirlwind, but everyone was running away screaming from the whirlwind which was already picking chairs and and smashing them everywhere. Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle had stood up with the wizard, awed by the powerful spell and forced to back away as it headed closer and closer to the ex teacher who tried and failed to get away from it, and they turned to Mildred and shuddered at the expression on her face as she stood up. They had never seen it before, Mildred was never angry. No, not angry. She was furious, but now they were seeing a side of her they'd never expected. None of them had ever expected the girl to show a malicious side before now.

Mildred was still chanting the spell, her voice heard over the whirlwind, the sound going through everyone like an icicle sharpened by a whetstone.

"Ic ðe bebiede mid ealle strangnesse ðæt ðu geblæwest ond sierest strange! Ge spurne þeos hægtesse!" She ended with a shout, thrusting her hand out, the direction roughly pointing towards Miss Gullet's heart as she mentally controlled the whirlwind. The ex teacher tried to dispel the whirlwind with a spell of her own, but the whirlwind was too strong. Meanwhile Mildred was concentrating on the spell even as Cackle and Hardbroom worked with the Great Wizard to dispel the whirlwind, but couldn't. The spell she'd just cast might not kill Miss Gullet, but it was Mildred's hope that wasn't going to happen. Miss Gullet's expression of terror was imprinted on everyone's mind as it snatched her up and spun her so fast they could only see her as a dark mass against the silvery white of the whirlwind. Suddenly she was expelled from the vortex and was sent crashing into a wall when Mildred finally dispelled the whirlwind. Everyone gasped and there was more than one shriek when they heard the crack as the whirlwind was dropped.

The sudden pain of being stabbed, thrown to the floor and the effort of conjuring such a powerful spell got to Mildred.

Mildred coughed and wheezed, bending over double as she shook from the effort of summoning and controlling the whirlwind. She had never tried the spell before, but the familiar feeling of being drained made her feel physically sick. She pushed the nausea aside and took a couple of deep breaths and walked slowly over to the fallen witch. Miss Gullet was unconscious and there was an ugly looking cut on her forehead, but while Mildred felt that the woman deserved a little bit of pain for what she'd done she was too compassionate to not do something.

Miss Hardbroom and the Great Wizard advanced towards them, prepared to take the older witch into custody when Mildred pressed a hand gently on the wound. Miss Cackle, however, held them back, "Wait, just watch," she advised, knowing there was something remarkable about to happen. Mildred was already chanting the language of the Old Religion and before the eyes of everyone in the hall the wound healed. Mildred looked at the wound as it cleared up, making sure that the woman was still breathing. The spell she'd just used looked simple enough, but it was a general healing spell that she'd found one night in the magic book. It may have been limited when it came to some injuries, but it was perfect for Miss Gullet. Mildred did feel a little guilty for what she'd done when she'd conjured that whirlwind, but she'd actually wanted to let everyone in the hall know she was capable of powerful magic beyond their level, and she wasn't afraid to defend herself. The one thing that worried her now was what would happen to her now; she'd caused a huge amount of damage to the hall, glass had rained down on everyone here, she had telepathically challenged everyone, used the Old Religion against some of them, and used a powerful whirlwind spell to injure another witch.

Mildred's fears of what would happen to her now were justified in her mind. She only hoped the people in this hall had some compassion as well as common sense - it was the fear, ignorance and the general feeling towards magic that had been the drive of so much pain and destruction over the centuries, and it was Morgana's fear and need for revenge that had turned her into a monster and justified everything Uther Pendragon had done to sorcerers during his bloody reign. She didn't want the same thing to happen here. Once the healing spell was finished she stood up and sighed. This was a mess and she knew she was going to have to pay for it. Her eyes burned gold and the door unlocked again, and it opened up.

"I'll just go and pack," she whispered, and she started walking towards the door to leave. No one stopped her, not after seeing what had happened to Miss Gullet.

"What do you mean, pack?" The Great Wizard asked, ignoring the other girls in the hall who were asking the same question and its variants. They were all the same to Mildred, who stopped and turned sideways.

But it was Maud surprisingly who came up with the answer. "You're frightened we're going to try to kill you," she said, her voice tinged with hurt, hurt that Mildred would even think about it. "Don't you remember?" she looked around the hall before looking back at Mildred. "She sent that vision into our minds, of being hunted down and killed because we were too frightened of her."

Mildred visibly shuddered, proving Maud's point, now everyone knew . The bespectacled girl walked towards her best friend and wrapped her in a hug that made Mildred go rigid for a second before she relaxed. "Why did you think we'd let that happen, Mille?"

Mildred sighed. "Because I used magic that some of you have never seen before, and I was frightened, but can you blame me?" Here she shot the Great Wizard a glare. "You still haven't answered my question, why did you reveal what I've been doing for a month?"

At that point Mildred had simply stopped caring about addressing someone so important with disrespect, it wasn't as though she liked the man before anyway, and she liked him even less now. The Great Wizard pulled himself up, visibly affronted. "I will not be spoken like that, young lady. Don't you know what it means, a high priestess arising for the first time in a thousand years?"

"I didn't know I was even meant to be a high priestess until last night," Mildred argued back, making her eyes flash golden again to remind the Great Wizard she wasn't in a good mood; it might be a little immature but she felt she had the right to be annoyed after all she'd just gone through, "all I knew was I was better at using a magic that few have been able to use for a thousand years than I am with the Craft. And before that I just thought I'd need a bit more time to get to grips with the idea behind the Craft, rather than unfair expectations being made all the time."

She hadn't meant to say that, but she couldn't help herself. The unfair expectations, the way the staff expected her to just simply know off by heart all the nuances of magical culture, their seeming lack of tolerance….it had frightened Mildred. It was like suddenly being uprooted and then moving to a foreign country where you didn't even know the language and customs of the locals. To truly learn about a new culture you needed time to get used to it, but had any of the teachers bothered to help? No (Mr Rowan-Webb didn't count), they'd just preferred to throw her into the deep end, watching to see if she'd sink or swim. It was one of the downsides to being at Cackles.

Mildred sighed and rubbed her eyes, not seeing the looks the teachers were sending one another, before she sighed, deciding it was time to finally come clean. "You see, I received that magic book, and the person who sent it told me to learn about the Old Religion, its magic and its history, but that idiot didn't tell me anything about becoming a high priestess until last night," she said, looking irritated by that, "especially after what I've learnt about Morgana, Morgause and Nimueh. I don't even know which one was worse, after what happened to them; one made a mistake that led to an arrogant king to decide to commit never ending genocide against sorcerers and anything with magic and was driven by loneliness, another was separated from her sister and grew up knowing her whole family were slaughtered, and the third high priestess was driven insane." Mildred snapped a spiteful look that truly did not belong on her face at the Great Wizard, who recoiled at the look on his face. "Some future," she said bitterly. Mildred sighed and realised she couldn't walk away from this, and she sat down in one of the chairs that hadn't been knocked over.

"Sorry about the mess," she said quietly, looking down at her hands. Mildred knew that despite her future role as the high priestess she was still a student here at the academy, they would punish her for what had just happened.

Miss Cackle went over to her, and gently wrapped her in a hug. "No, I'm sorry you were driven to that point. But what made you think you'd be hunted down and killed?"

When hearing that question like that made Mildred realise she might have been a little foolish, but she wasn't going to back down. "I was frightened," she explained. "I saw the looks on everyone's faces including my best friends, they were afraid of me. When that glass shattered…."

Mildred couldn't finish the sentence and looked at her hands. "I'm supposed to be the next high priestess of the Old Religion, you've seen what I can do. Can you be blamed for being afraid?"

Maud and Enid had had enough. They were more than used to Mildred's attitude with magic with all the verbal and psychological abuse she had to go through though the other girls would call it teasing. But the problem was Mildred was incredibly sensitive about getting things wrong. It hurt her two friends when they saw how uncertain she was, and though they thought they'd done their best to building her self esteem back up. For the last few weeks Mildred had been happier when you overlooked the little disasters that seemed to follow her like a spiteful poltergeist. Now they knew what had been helping her both girls were ignoring the hurt Mildred hadn't told them about this spell book she'd received, more concerned by the horrifying thought that Mildred was frightened she'd be hunted down and killed simply for being able to wield a magic that hadn't really existed for centuries.

Both girls ignored everyone and went to their best friend. Mildred looked up in surprise when Enid and Maud wrapped an arm each around her shoulders. "I'm sorry guys," she said.

Maud waved the apology aside. "Mildred, why didn't you say anything to us?"

"Yeah," Enid agreed.

Mildred sighed, taking note of everybody else in the hall, knowing they may as well hear this. "I was going to tell you, no matter what that letter said. But I was only going to do it when I'd mastered a few other spells and developed more control over them. You saw me practice, didn't you?" she asked the teachers.

Not seeing the point of lying or even bluffing Miss Hardbroom nodded. "Yes, we did. I watched you change the floor of your room into a carpet and then conjure those jars to conduct an impromptu orchestra, and I also saw you nearly exhaust yourself. That was very dangerous Mildred, I was sure you would collapse from exhaustion," she added in a scolding tone that was lighter than the norm.

The other girls chimed in, momentarily forgetting what had happened only a few minutes ago. "Wait, you were making that noise?"

"I thought it was something else in the castle."

"Can you show us Mildred?"

Mildred was a little overwhelmed with the the students chatter, but she smiled and nodded at the question. But she turned to the teachers, unsure. "Can I?"

Miss Cackle exchanged a look with her deputy over her shoulder and nodded. Mildred smiled before she conjured those glass gars filled with water and started playing her little impromptu orchestra. This went on half an hour. Each of the jars were differently shaped; some of them were conical shaped or spiral shaped. Under Mildred's hands the water bubbled and emitted musical sounds, some of them mingling with a sound like someone running a finger lightly over the rim of a glass. For 10 minutes Mildred played the music. Mr Rowan-Webb smiled when he saw Miss Bat smile and gently sway to the music, knowing that she was enjoying it. She preferred simple and unexaggerated musical tones, not all that rubbish people called music. The sounds Mildred was playing fit the bill quite nicely.

She noticed the grin on the love of her life's face and smiled back at him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered so as not to disturb the sounds.

"It is," he replied. "I wonder if she only managed to make sounds like this, and not any more complex sounds-"

"Algernon," Miss Bat interrupted.

"Yes dear?"

"Don't ruin it."

"Yes dear."

Miss Hardbroom was making a face at the noise coming from the jars, something Miss Drill was quick to notice on her normally moody colleague's face. "Problems Hecate?"

"I have had to endure listening to these sounds on and off for a while now," Hecate replied.

Miss Drill shrugged her shoulders and stood still. She knew better, she knew that despite how things had turned out Hecate was truly proud of Mildred, although she probably wished it hadn't come out like it had. Miss Drill knew that Mildred would probably have to face some kind of penalty for the damage and the harm she'd caused, but since in the Witches' code attacking another witch with a knife, especially a minor, was a serious offence Mildred would probably get lucky and not have any real penalty. But she had magically attacked several people in the hall including the Great Wizard, but even Miss Drill had no idea what would happen there.

"I think it's beautiful," Miss Drill declared, looking on Mildred with a smile. The girl wasn't finished with her concerto but she was garnering a lot of attention.

"Hmm, yes, well it does have something to it," Miss Hardbroom replied. She was just too worn down to really make a proper and constructive criticism of the girl. But something genuinely worried the dark witch, and she didn't know what it was, but she and Miss Cackle would speak of it later.

Finally Mildred grew bored of the music and she stopped, waving her hand carelessly to remove the glasses.

Esmerelda Hallow walked towards her. "Mildred, how much can you do?" she asked curiously.

Mildred looked down at the spot where the jars once stood, and a smile crossed her face as an insane idea came into her mind. The teachers tensed up when they saw the smile, guessing correctly that something dramatic was going to happen. Their apprehension didn't fade when Mildred said simply to Esmerelda, "Step back."

The older girl did as she was told, but when she'd just taken a step back Mildred's eyes glowed gold when a circle of flames suddenly erupted around the first year's body.

Maud and Enid panicked. "Mildred!" But they were held back by the teachers when they tried to rush towards the girl. But the flames grew higher and higher and even the Great Wizard himself stepped closer to try and dowse the fire. But then the fire remoulded and became a flaming dragon and gracefully flew into the air before disappearing into a sea of sparks. Everyone in the hall gazed at awe at the spectacle and almost missed the flames dying down, revealing a smiling Mildred, her eyes still glowing gold.

"Does that answer your question, Esmerelda?" she said brightly. But unfortunately for Mildred there were several people who were far from impressed by what she'd done.

Maud looked like she was going to slap Mildred, Enid didn't look better either. Mildred gulped and turned to the teachers, seeing their faces. "MILDRED HUBBLE! Do you have to do something so dangerous and reckless?!" Miss Hardbroom's face, best observed from a distance was now blocking everyone from view. Mildred stepped back instinctively, looking pale and frightened. HB wasn't just furious. No, there was another emotion written all over her face. Worry. No one was going to back her up, no one was going to come to her rescue - they hadn't expected her to do something so reckless.

For a girl who was coming out of her shell of insecurity Mildred was still a nervous wreck at times, especially for a girl destined to become a high priestess of the Old Religion, but she wasn't stupid. She knew it had been risky casting that fire spell but she'd been practicing it for a while, though Mildred knew better than create fire, never mind stand in the centre of a blaze. She knew she should have used a much less dangerous spell, but she'd been going for dramatic effect. What the hell had she been thinking?

"I'm sorry, I got kinda carried away-"

"Mildred, you almost got burnt! No more fire spells from now on!" Miss Cackle interrupted sternly.

Mildred nodded in agreement.

"Impressive, most impressive."

Unnoticed by everyone a man wearing a deep red robe had just walked into the hall. Already annoyed by Miss Gullet's unexpected arrival and what she'd done to Mildred, all of the teachers became protective. The man stopped and slipped off his hood revealing the face of a man with big ears, coal black hair and his most amazing feature were his blue eyes.

The Great Wizard recognised him at once. In a reverent voice that brought everyone up, he uttered one word, a name.

"Merlin?"

* * *

Please tell me what you think so far.


	7. Chapter 7 Dad?

Guest (whoever you are) - I don't plan on stopping until I finish this story. No need to worry.

SuperOncer5 - Looks like your Tuesday will look good, yes?

wiccancharmedguy - You'll find out

Alexanne2017 - Thank you. I hope this chapter increases your opinion of my writing skills.

JannaKalderash - Yes. But that's what happens when you lose your temper. No, Ethel will still be the same insensitive little cow she is.

I don't own the rights to The Worst Witch.

* * *

Dad?

Silence reigned throughout the Great Hall at the Wizard's announcement, after all how else would you feel when you came face to face with one of the most legendary figures in magical history? Clad in his long dark red robe, Merlin looked younger than you'd have expected him to be - he had short coal black hair, big ears, and he looked very thin faced and thin figured. The most striking feature were his eyes, a deep penetrating blue that held wisdom, compassion and power, yet tempered by a hard chip that came with experience, and since Merlin was a thousand years old that experience was probably something he wouldn't have wished on his worst enemy.

Well, maybe he would've done since that enemy had once been a close and dear friend to him, someone whom he had loved. Merlin smiled brightly, there was something goofily infectious about his smile that everyone noticed. "Hello everyone," he said as though it was everyday that he walked into a school's hall where crumbs of broken glass littered the floors, chairs upturned and scattered across the hall as though all the students had stampeded through them, and former teachers coming into the hall only to be picked up and hurled against a hall by a fierce whirlwind.

No-one spoke, how could you when you're confronted by a legend like Merlin? But for Mildred seeing the man in the flesh was something completely new. She had expected the man to be older looking in appearance, sort of like how he was portrayed in the movies and on TV, but he wasn't. She wasn't really surprised when she put more thought into it; she'd been to enough gigs with some of her friends, and some of the singers and co didn't look anything like they appeared in posters or on the news, in fact they looked a little better in real life because they were much more realistic to her. Merlin looked so young, but that was magic for you. Mildred didn't know if she herself would be able to control her ageing but decided it wouldn't be a good thing if she could - she had learnt that while wizards and witches had longer lifespans they did eventually die, and while the thought of living forever might appeal to some it didn't appeal to her. Hell, she didn't know how Merlin felt about living for so long. Mildred still had friends outside Cackles, and she still had her beloved mother. Julie Hubble wouldn't live forever. The thought of always living forever and ever while her friends and mother aged and died appalled Mildred because she doubted she could function without them though she did know she could have other friends, though she'd have to repeat the cycle of watching them grow old and die in turn, and on and on it would go, and for the first time ever she pitied Merlin despite her contempt for the way he'd treated others of his own kind.

How many friends and loved ones had he found for himself at the height of Camelot, only to find himself living forever, alone, forced to watch all of them die? But while Mildred pitied Merlin, and knew his mistakes had been terrible she didn't completely hate him for what he'd done. Hate, far too strong a word. But this man had been watching her since she was a baby, spied on her and her mother all her life; was that what happened when you could live forever, you lost track of what was acceptable behaviour? If so Mildred wanted nothing to do with immortality, and besides she didn't want to outlive anyone she knew, and she held back the urge to shudder when an image popped up in her head, showing herself as she was now, while Maud, Enid, Felicity, Esmerelda, and Ethel surprisingly, Miss Hardbroom even and lastly her mother, aged around her, their hair losing their colours until they turned silvery grey, their skin sagging and wrinkling, decaying like an old apple before dying completely while she stayed the same. Mildred felt physically sick at the mental image, and she swore she'd do her best to stop it happening.

While Mildred was fighting the rising panic that threatened to make her bend over double and vomit all over the hall floor, Miss Cackle hesitantly stepped forwards. Merlin could see her apprehension and sighed under his breath, knowing why the elderly looking headmistress was so frightened. No, not frightened - worried was probably the best word to describe Miss Cackle's feelings. The ancient warlock had seen similar emotions on other people's faces over the centuries, mostly witches and wizards who were so comfortable in their own lives and comfort zones, when they realised who he was then they became hesitant and nervous. He couldn't blame them, his reputation had grown over the centuries, but while in the non magical world where science and technology was completely replacing magic and shunting it to the side he had to hide who he was because he had learnt the hard way that ordinary people could never hope to understand him, in the magical world it was even worse. They knew he'd founded their society to try to make up for all the pain and misery caused by the single minded view of magic Uther and Arthur had forced onto the lands of the five kingdoms but also for his own mistakes, because he knew he could have done something, anything, to alleviate the never ending massacre caused by the fear of magic. Despite all he had done his relationship with the future descendants of those he had worked with and had taught had gone both ways. Too many of them were afraid of him, afraid of his power and afraid of what he could do because while there was some terror his word carried a lot of weight, and although he had spent the better part of his early years posing as Arthur's manservant politics was something he had needed to become well versed in.

Merlin tried his best to smile at Miss Cackle as she approached him, but the look of amazement mixed with fear and surprise wasn't new to him. Alice had told the headmistress he was still around but Ada Cackle had not expected to actually meet him in the flesh especially not quite so soon. Not many people knew he still existed, but the Great Wizard did. Egbert Helibore only knew him because the two had met once in a while, but the ancient warlock only appeared to the Great Wizard to make it clear to whoever had the title that he was still around and watching, and though his attention was fixed squarely on the lake of Avalon waiting for Arthur to return to reclaim his throne and power, he was not afraid to show up once in a while in case he felt it was necessary. The Great Wizards were by the standards of modern day magicians incredibly powerful, chosen for their intellects and wisdom, but they knew they were no match for Merlin should things turn nasty, and while Merlin had met and dealt with dozens of Great Wizards who were remembered by history as unfair and rather nasty characters, he had always been an unwelcome shadow they simply couldn't deal with. That was why none of those Wizards with delusions of grandeur had tried to repeat Morgana's power mad crusade against Camelot to take a crown that only belonged in her head. To this day Merlin remembered having to step in and prevent really nasty incidents from happening, and in a world where the Old Religion was in flux with few people being born who could actually use it along with the Craft, there were times he was frightened by what people in authority could do when the power went to their heads. He'd seen it happen so many times over the centuries - Napoleon Bonaparte, but Adolf Hitler had been the worst example though the French emperor had been bad enough, but Napoleon had been a professional soldier and not a genocidal maniac. Hitler was one person Merlin knew he could have dealt with easily, but with the stability of Europe hanging by threads after the mess caused by the First World War and with Germany forming one unstable political party after another to try and make a better life for everyone and making promises they couldn't really keep in the long term, Merlin had quickly realised he could do nothing when it became clear Hitler was a psychopath and his views on people who didn't conform with his world view of what people should be like was quickly shared by people more smarter than him. Even if he'd found a way to kill Hitler and disband the Nazi Party there was no guarantee someone who'd been involved would form a new party and be just as bad or even worse. Merlin had interfered several times from the behind the scenes and the results had been devastating. The Crimean war was an example, and it was because of him that the conflict was such a disaster of his unwanted interference.

But while Merlin had kept a closer eye on the Second World war and on the lake of Avalon incase Arthur returned though Winston Churchill had done a thoroughly good job of keeping morale and ensuring the war went his way, he also kept an eye on the magical world. It was conflicts like that that made Merlin wonder just what kind of disaster to Albion would be enough to resurrect Arthur and return him from beyond Avalon with the rest of the knights. But he would wait. He had time. The magical world wasn't completely isolated from their counterparts, and Merlin was delighted by that, but it had been a fight and a half to ensure his kind didn't hide behind barriers that completely closed them off. He understood their stance, of course, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Merlin came out of his thoughts when Miss Cackle's hand waved to her forehead and the lady bowed, "Well met, Merlin," she said.

Merlin performed the same gesture - he still wasn't sure how that greeting had come about - with practiced ease. "Well met, Miss Cackle," he said with respect towards the headmistress. He bowed towards the other witches in the hall, "Ladies."

But when he turned towards the Great Wizard, his polite manner faded somewhat. "Hello, Egbert. I think you already know what I'm going to say to you, right?"

Egbert Helibore was one of several people in the magical world Merlin had simply learnt to tolerate. Egbert wasn't a bad person but the problem with him was he sometimes believed himself to be invincible. That was the problem with wizards these days, they easily believed that they were better simply because of their power and skills that they refused to look around and notice if others were just as good and perhaps even better. But in comparison Egbert was slightly better, but it was because of his own presence that Merlin knew he wasn't worried. The fewer witches and wizards with delusions of grandeur he had to deal with, the better.

The Great Wizard looked sheepish and somewhat annoyed. "Merlin, I am sorry, but the last time I was here I was manipulated into believing the worst of Miss Hubble."

The Great Wizard had already heard from Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle that Merlin had been watching Mildred Hubble all her life, so he knew the legendary sorcerer already knew about what had happened that day. It was his previous meeting with Mildred that was the primary reason why he had announced it the way he had. But the moment the words were out of his mouth Merlin sent a look at the ponytailed girl, but that look held none of the emotions that Egbert himself had felt when he'd first met her. Back then he'd been so full of judgement. Miss Hardbroom also noticed the look and frowned because there was something there, something she didn't recognise. It made her both worried and curious.

"You were trying to make up for what you said to me?" Mildred's voice was quiet, looking at him with something like guilt over how she'd treated the wizard, though Egbert didn't understand, then he realised she was feeling guilty for how she'd spoken to him just now.

"Yes," he replied simply. "I am a wizard, Miss Hubble, and there are sayings about us that say if you try our patience, we will be subtle and quick to anger. When I found out Agatha Cackle had manipulated me….. I was furious, and I was even more angrier that you were being used as well. It's bad enough you were nearly killed, but that someone didn't care-"

Mildred interrupted him gently. "If you'd wanted to make it up to me, you could have simply said that I could use the Old Religion and leave out the part of becoming a high priestess. I wouldn't have minded if you'd done that. It was only a matter of time before someone either found out or I'd decided to tell them, and it can go both ways now everyone here knows I'm going to become the next high priestess; I don't know how they were treated at the height of their power before Uther Pendragon tore it all down, but I have a long way to go before I even deserve to be called a high priestess, and I don't want people judging me. It was a nice thought, sir, but it was badly thought out. Anyway, don't worry about it, as my mum says its no use pulling your hair out thinking about what ifs. It's done."

Egbert Helibore hadn't really thought very highly of Mildred Hubble when he'd met her, but hearing her speak, telling him and everyone in the hall that sooner or later people would've found learnt about her secret talent with the Old Religion. The old wizard was now kicking himself for thinking she'd appreciate him saying a word about a destiny that she knew nothing about. He wasn't used to dealing with children, just adults, but what made it worse was that she was right. People would be judging her, he would be judging her, based on standards of today's magic and not those of the Old Religion. The Great Wizard was schooled in many branches of magic, but he didn't know how to use the old magic even if he tried.

And yet he was amazed by how humble and accepting she was of the whole thing despite him throwing her secrets and the destiny she didn't even know about back into her face. Mildred had just forgiven him when she could have railed against it, thrown a temper tantrum or something. But she had been angry about her secrets being shown to everyone, but Egbert knew it was because of her fear that she would be hunted down and killed which had made her lash out the way she had - he wasn't going to punish her for what had happened when Miss Gullet had shown up. But it was her humble attitude which had him stumped - most wizards and witches usually behaved arrogantly if they had a powerful magical talent and liked to boast and brag about being able to do something others couldn't imagine doing.

Mildred Hubble was not like that - she might have shown off, but she knew her limits and knew what was acceptable. Another thing that intrigued him was her apparent wisdom. Granted she wasn't old enough to be truly wise, but she had something there, and like any other wizard or witch's powers it would grow with age and adequate nurturing.

Finally the wizard nodded, "Thank you."

To his slight annoyance and surprise the girl blinked and tilted her head slightly. "For what?" she asked. Several of the girls rolled their eyes while Merlin held back the urge to chuckle. It wasn't everyday Helibore found himself tongue tied and flustered. Egbert needed all his control to hide his annoyance, not to mention his grinding teeth which were grinding from confusion rather than anger. "For not holding my mistakes against me," he replied patiently.

"What would be the point? Like you said we were both manipulated by Agatha who would like nothing better for me and her sister to fall, and you wanted to make it up to me. I don't mind that, I don't believe in holding grudges. There's no point to it when you can just speak to others and sort it all out."

Merlin's voice made the two remember there were others in the hall. "Good advice Mildred, its just a shame the rest of humanity's not as enlightened or willing to change to that extent." He went silent for a moment, lost in his memories. Mildred studied him, guessing correctly that Merlin could have easily have stepped in to prevent the worst things in history from happening. Maybe he had tried once, Mildred reflected, and it backfired or something happened beyond his control, but she would never know. But she didn't realise that she wasn't far off.

Mildred walked over to the sorcerer. "Why did you come to Cackles today?" She asked, surprising everyone with her audacity, but she didn't care. Merlin knew her better than they did, and besides she felt that familiarity would work with her. It did.

"To meet with you," Merlin replied simply. Suddenly there was a look no one expected, a look of sadness mixed with pride, but there was something else there. "I have so much to tell you, Mildred. I want to talk to you in private in a little while, if that's okay with you?"

After looking at her teachers to make sure it was alright, Mildred nodded, "Sure."

"Good," Merlin smiled at her, but Mildred saw something in his eyes, something sad and profound. There was pride in his eyes but there was something else. He gestured to the door. "Shall we?"

Miss Hardbroom's eyes narrowed when they saw the look Mildred sent Merlin. She didn't like any of her students being uneasy and Mildred looked as uneasy as she'd ever seen the girl.

Merlin wasn't surprised that the girl was hesitant about coming with him out onto the grounds of the castle. After all he was a strange man to her, a man who had spent all her life watching her over without her knowledge, and that hurt him, it really did. It had upset him deeply that she had worked out who he was during his practicing magic in her bedroom, and she'd told him knowing he would be listening and watching that she wouldn't become a pawn. Merlin had no intention of treating her that way. But she didn't know him. All she knew about him was those stories told about him, each one more ridiculous than the other though one or two of them held some grains of truth. The fact she had realised he was the one spying on her since the day she was born was not much help. On the contrary it was even less in his favour. But he had many practical and personal reasons for wanting to keep watch over Mildred.

It wasn't going to be easy breaking the news to her about those personal reasons, but Merlin hoped Mildred didn't hate him in the end. But he wouldn't be surprised if she did.

* * *

Merlin looked at the girl, and winced internally when he caught her look. The expression on her face wasn't a welcome one. She looked nervous, uneasy even. He kicked himself for that. She knew he'd watched her all these years, and here he was in her presence.

Mildred was feeling uneasy, really uneasy. Despite the letter that had come after the magic book she had been terrified and more than a little worried about the notion of someone watching her. She might have portrayed herself as a rather naive girl, someone kind and willing to give anyone a second chance, always meeting people even those with really nasty attitudes with a smile and a kind heart, but Mildred wasn't stupid. She was anything but stupid. Her mother Julie had been terrified for her daughter when she'd been growing up. When you're a parent, alone without a husband to support and protect you then you need to be careful of everything. From a young age Mildred had learnt never to accept sweets from strangers, to never talk to strangers, to always hide in case strange people ran after her if she were alone, that kind of thing which parents always taught their children. Those lessons only grew when Mildred grew older but by then she was aware of the dangers. She also read the papers and watched the news broadcasts and listened to the reports on the radio that described how pedophiles stalked and later groomed children, some of them younger than her by a good half a decade. What they did to those children then whose only crime was being seen by those…..things was terrible, and Mildred was always careful. Before she'd had the thing zapped away on her first day at Cackles, Mildred had always carried her mobile with her. It was more than just a thing to log onto the internet, check her texts and answer phone calls, it was a safety line. With it she could ring the police and her mum in case she felt someone was about to hurt her. But Mildred wasn't entirely safety conscious. Like all children she knew when to have fun and just enjoy life.

But Merlin-

Mildred didn't feel unsafe with him in the sense that he would hurt her. She wasn't sure, but there was something familiar about him that she simply couldn't place. At first she assumed it was because Merlin had been spying on her and she felt nervous being face to face with her stalker even if he was the legendary warlock of legend, but now she wasn't so sure. There was something odd about him. Mildred didn't like mysteries and so she hoped this one would be solved quickly.

Smiling at the peaceful grounds of the castle, Merlin led Mildred to a tree well away from the castle but close enough for any onlookers to keep watch on them both. The two sat on the soft grass at the base of the trunk and were silent, both nervous around the other for different reasons and too worried for their own good.

Finally Mildred broke the silence. "What did you want to see me for, Merlin?"

The ancient warlock started at the question and sighed. "Sorry, I was just trying to find the words," he said before he became more diplomatic. "I wanted to tell you I'll help you in any way I can to guide you to becoming a high priestess. I've collected plenty of books and you and I can go over them all, and I can teach you more about your powers."

"What about the magic book you gave me?"

"That was just a single book. And you have to bear in mind when I received the book from my mentor, I was only able to learn the spells in a trial and error basis. It didn't help I couldn't practice any of the spells. It wasn't until after Arthur…..died," he said, the look of grief and pain was terrible for Mildred to see, "and the ban on magic was repealed and I was free to practice without fear of being burnt or hung, and afterwards I travelled for a bit and eventually discovered books and scrolls which had survived the Great Purge and I realised Gaius's book was only one volume and not good enough for someone with my supposed powers."

Mildred shrugged her shoulders, accepting it as the truth. "Okay, but how long will it take for me to become a high priestess anyway if I studied those books?"

Merlin chuckled a little at her impatience. "It takes a long time, a lot of hard work. Practice and study. You have to bear in mind that for ordinary sorcerers back then they had to devote their lives to ritual and study in order to gain the gift of magic, but those days were simpler than they are now. Back then people could spend years and years learning about magic and practicing it before being granted a gift, and in those days the laws of magic were more malleable. Now people are born with their magic, shifting the balance."

Mildred was intrigued by this. She'd known that until Merlin and Morgana most of the sorcerers who used the Old Religion magic had needed to study it in order to become magical. But she'd never expected that she would hear that the laws of magic were malleable, but she supposed it made a sort of sense.

"And you can teach me how to use my powers?"

"After seeing what you did with that flaming dragon and Miss Gullet, I think you've made a good start so far but you need to learn a lot more about magic." Merlin paused for a moment as he debated telling Mildred something which had haunted him ever since he'd learnt about her destiny. He decided to say it anyway, it would be impossible to hide later. "It took me a long time to study what the high priests and priestess knew since none of the high priestesses I'd met in the past had been forthcoming with anything that would help me. But there were groups of sorcerers after Arthur's death who helped me to learn what the high priests knew."

Learning the knowledge of that order of the Old Religion's ranks hadn't been easy. Not only were so many people who could have helped Merlin dead thanks to Uther's rampage in his quest to destroy magic without really being aware that while he might slaughter all the sorcerers he liked he would never completely destroy magic since it existed everywhere. There were still groups of sorcerers like the Catha who had been honoured to teach him everything they knew.

Being with sorcerers like them had made Merlin realise that being reliant on a single magic book was stupid, but then he hadn't really bothered to search any of the places where Morgana had exiled herself after being defeated so many times and he had never bothered to keep any of the possessions sorcerers like Edwin had left lying around after their deaths. That business with Nimueh at the Isle of the Blessed was one of the best examples. He remembered visiting the isle after Arthur's death. He had been in a terrible funk, drifting aimlessly for days after telling Percival when the big and kindly knight had found him near Avalon about Morgana and Arthur's deaths and telling him he would soon return to Camelot, but not at the time. He needed time to himself. Merlin grimaced as he remembered those painful weeks which had turned quickly into months. How many times had he encountered Saxons and bandits? Too many times. In the past Merlin would have kept their awareness of him practicing magic at a minimum but after Arthur's death he had simply stopped caring about the niceties. He had stumbled across the Isle of the Blessed and then later returned to the Perilous Lands where he had met the Fisher King.

The Isle of the Blessed had been falling apart when he'd arrived after dealing with Excalibur and Arthur's body, the magic pained and saddened after so much loss. Merlin had found a library. Uther's knights had done a thorough job of slaughtering those unlucky enough to be in the temple at the time of the attack, and they had raided and destroyed the libraries and the archives where centuries of sorcerers had placed magical knowledge into them for safe keeping. But there were surviving texts and enough knowledge there to keep him busy for a long time. Nimueh had done her best in the twenty years she'd spent on her own to try to restore the Isle to its original glory but she'd given up on the project. Gaius's rooms had been sub standard and inadequate to provide an education for a sorcerer, but the Isle of the Blessed was perfect for him. He had spent 4 months at the Isle before moving onto the Perilous Lands, always sending messages to Camelot to let Gwen and Gaius know he was alright and to keep in touch with them. The Fisher King was dead but he had collected and stored a huge number of magical texts and artefacts. Out of respect of the Fisher King he had treated them like the gold they were. But the good thing was the Old Religion was practically a living entity and it would know that he could only teach Mildred so much before his knowledge could let her down. He had trained himself with a little help in learning how the high priests and the priestesses worked and lived, but there were limits to what Mildred could learn. He had books, scrolls, but she would need to do most of it through study on her own. It would be hard but he had faith in her. The only problem was he had foolishly lost the Cup of Life years ago after stopping Morgause and Morgana's plan to conquer Camelot with an immortal army. Afterwards in the chaos Merlin had searched and scoured Camelot for the cup in case one of the knights had foolishly taken it, but the search took months before he gave up. To this day Merlin still kicked himself for being so stupid. If anyone found the Cup and discovered some of the principles behind how it worked then there could be another immortal army. But the Cup was also an important part of Mildred's education into the Old Religion, one she might have to do without unless he found some way to find the Cup. But there were pros and cons to it, like someone with knowledge of the Cup and what it could do could use it to commit great evil; Merlin had seen it happen twice in his early years at Camelot and he was not keen for Mildred to experience it for herself.

"I'd like that," Mildred said at last. Merlin was a bit taken aback since he'd been so immersed in his own thoughts, but then he realised what she was talking about. Clearly she'd been thinking about being taught by him.

Merlin smiled and nodded, but then he looked awkward all of a sudden. "Mildred," he began hesitantly. "Do you remember your father, your real father?"

Mildred blinked at him in surprise. This was something that she'd never expected to come up in their conversation, in fact she'd expected it to be more formal. She was so surprised by the question that she didn't move or speak. Merlin waited patiently. Finally Mildred's brain rebooted itself and she replied, but she was puzzled by the sudden change in topic. "No. He disappeared from my mother when she told him she was pregnant with me," she replied.

Merlin sighed. "Did Julie tell you anything?"

"Only the good times. He met her when she was in college and dated her for a good couple of years, and after he found out she was pregnant he left," Mildred said. She was growing more curious about why they were even talking about it and more than a little disturbed. "Why?" she asked only to be stunned out of her mind by the look of guilt on Merlin's face.

"I wondered how I was going to say this to you, I wanted to stay with you and your mother, have a family for the first time after being on my own for so long….. but I couldn't, but a father never forgets his little daughter."

It took a minute for Mildred's confused brain to catch up with what Merlin was telling her, but when she did she gasped and scooted as far from Merlin as she could, not out of fear but of surprise. Merlin didn't seem shocked by her actions, but she could see the obvious hurt in his eyes. "Mildred-"

"Why, why did you leave my mother? How can you be my father?" Words couldn't describe the turmoil Mildred was falling into. Her father was a topic that was best left silent between her and her mother. The man had dated her mum for two years and she only had stories of him from her mother to give her some idea of the man himself. All the pictures of them being together had vanished, presumably taken by the thieving bastard so then his own daughter couldn't see what he looked like.

Mildred herself had never known any other parent besides her mother so she wasn't entirely sure how to react, but she was more angry for her mothers sake. Not hers. To her annoyance Merlin just sat there but what really upset her was how he had the nerve to look guilty.

"Mildred, please let me explain," Merlin said calmly, but he laced his words with power to get his point across. Mildred could feel Merlin's magic brush against her own. Magic. God, no wonder she had magic and that same magic was virtually identical to Merlin's magic which was why she had such skill in the Old Religion. It was because she was his daughter. Her father was Merlin. Merlin! The same legendary wizard who had helped King Arthur and Camelot.

She took a deep breath, holding back the rising tide of anger at Merlin's audacity for even using his magic to calm her down when she felt her anger was justified. She folded her hands and went silent.

Once he was sure he wouldn't get anymore interruptions, Merlin spoke, "I loved being with Julie, Mildred. Good lord I was even tempted to marry her. In my lifetime I've loved two women - one was cursed and later killed, the second became my bitterest enemy because I was too cowardly to change her destiny. And then there was Julie."

Merlin took a deep breath as the memories clearly overwhelmed him. "I was lonely, Mildred, but I always had distractions-"

"Is that all my mum was to you, a distraction?!" Mildred snapped, breaking through the spell Merlin had cast on her to keep calm. This time, however, Merlin was too upset because of what his daughter implied. "No, she wasn't. Well she was at first, but later on as I got to know her, I realised I was falling in love with her."

Mildred bit her tongue. She wasn't going to say it, it was too easy….

Unfortunately, Merlin seemed to know what she was thinking. "I did love her enough to marry her, but I couldn't…..call me a coward if you want, Mildred, but what could I offer her? What could I offer you?" He looked desperately at Mildred, pleading for her to understand. "I've spent my immortality guarding the Lake of Avalon waiting for Arthur to return. Could I really ask you two to stay with me?"

Merlin had to scoot back slightly when his really pissed off daughter came so close to him the tips of their noses were almost touching. He could see the rage in her eyes. "We wouldn't have known if you had just given us a chance!"

"Mildred, you've got it wrong-"

"No!" Mildred shrieked, though a part of her wondered how long it would be before someone heard and came to investigate but she was simply too angry to care. "You've been watching me, watching us, for the last 11 years! 11 years! And you have not helped us in anyway! You broke my mother's heart, deprived me of having a father in my life! I could have come to Cackles prepared and aware of what I was. I wouldn't have looked like a complete idiot when it comes to spells or potions, or when the Great Wizard came to the school the first time round. Don't you dare try to justify yourself!"

Mildred stood up suddenly and walked a slight distance away from Merlin, desperate to put some space between the pair of them, just so then she could process things more clearly, her mind was going everywhere and spinning faster than the Earth's orbit, but she couldn't do that if she was looking constantly at Merlin. She was also lost in her own thoughts. Mildred had always dreamt of knowing her dad and asking him why she'd never seen him, but finding out he was a wizard asked so many questions, although the word wizard wasn't the best word to describe someone like Merlin. Merlin was her father. Merlin had dated her mother. Merlin and her mother had had her. God, it was so odd when you looked at it like that, and don't get started on the age thing. Mildred nearly jumped when she felt her father's hesitant hand on her shoulder.

"I was toying with asking her to marry me. In fact I was looking for a ring on the off chance she'd say yes after I'd told her the truth about who I was. When she told me she was pregnant I realised I did love her, that I wanted to spend some of my life with her and you, and you'd realise that too if you'd let me finish. But…..the Old Religion stopped me. As a creature of the Old Religion I couldn't stop it, it was painful when I tried to resist it taking me away from you and your mother."

Mildred closed her eyes in pain. She knew he was telling the truth. "Is that why you didn't contact us?" she asked, remembering all those years where the subject of her father raised its head and seeing the look of hurt on Julie's face…. All of it could've been alleviated by a single phone call or a card or a letter.

Merlin swallowed. "I tried once, but once again I was stopped. I felt like my magic was being ripped out of my body, along with my skin, my bones and my muscles. I felt like my blood was being boiled by a volcano. In the end all I could do was watch you as you grew up. But don't you dare think for a second I didn't want to be there. I wanted to see you grow up, celebrate your birthdays, hold you as you unwrapped your Christmas presents….But I couldn't."

Merlin looked down in shame.

Realisation finally struck Mildred like a cannonball. Merlin, her father, had been looking after her and her mother all these years, and while she resented the Old Religion for tearing him away for reasons she couldn't guess at, Mildred knew she was watched by her father. She felt a little less creeped out now she knew who he was to her.

Now Merlin was in that vein of the conversation (argument? Teary eyed disagreement? Mildred didn't know) he couldn't stop, the look of haunting misery still present on his face. "It was like being locked out of a house and only seeing what was happening through a window and no-one noticing you. I hated it. I also watched you perform magic, just small bits of it here and there, but you seemed to have more control than I ever did when I was that age, and your powers weren't all over the place compared to me."

"What do you mean?"

Merlin chuckled. "In my village before I headed for Camelot, I had problems with my control over my magic. Over the years little things would happen whether I wanted them to or not, and although me and your grandmother were able to hide it at first soon others in the village began to take note of the little things happening around them. My mother told me to head to Camelot, where I'd meet Gaius my uncle and learn magic from him. After that my control grew."

Mildred's interest had been piqued. "So…..I've always had magic, and it was better controlled than yours? My god," she whispered in surprise and delight. "I do have magical heritage."

Merlin had seen his daughter speculate on how she'd gotten her powers, but she'd thought her mother had them. That time when Julie had been affected by that potion when Mildred had foolishly decided to become older to be a better witch was only down to him being there to make sure she didn't suffer any ill effects. But he wasn't going to tell her that unless she confronted him.

It was just a shame his daughter had just thought her mother had thought Julie was the one to give her magic and not for a minute think it was her other parent which was responsible.

"Yes, you've always had magic, but yours didn't constantly act like mine did, in fact I think you inherited some of my control over your powers. Everytime I tried to stop myself using magic, I would get really sick. With you it was just an occasional thing, or something you never noticed or believed to be a coincidence. It's a miracle that in this world where everyone is practically living on top of one another small things are discounted as accidents or coincidences. When you attended this place I think the modern world and how magic has needed to change with the times made you able to use the Craft better than me. Problem is you still have issues."

Mildred was barely listening to her father by that point. She could remember small things happening when she was a child. Each time she'd wished it and she'd felt something, like a jolt of electricity and it would happen. But it hadn't occurred to her it might have been magic because she'd never felt something similar when she used modern day spells.

But the Old Religion was a different story.

And she'd inherited it from Merlin.

But one thing bothered her. "What happened to the photos taken of you and mum?"

And just like that the whole easy atmosphere Merlin had striven for started breaking down. Damn, Merlin thought, this kid knows the right questions? He decided to simply tell the truth, she probably guessed it already.

"I-I took them, Mildred," Merlin replied, hoping his daughter wouldn't become too angry. "All of them including the negatives. I know its selfish, but I-"

Mildred interrupted him, too angry to care that she was now lashing out at one of the most famous wizards of history. She was angry for her mother, angry for the man being so cruel to deprive her mother of happy memories and her of seeing what her father looked like. "Did it never occur to you we might have wanted them, that I might've wanted to see what my dad looked like?!" Mildred usually didn't shout but at that point her voice had begun to rise with each word, she was angry that her dad had just taken all the photos.

"Of course it did! I didn't want you and your mother to hate me!" Merlin burst out.

Mildred lost all her built up anger and blinked at her dad. "What-what do you mean?"

"I didn't want Julie to suddenly hate me, and to teach you to hate me," Merlin said, the shame on his face speaking volumes. "But over the years I realised I had been stupid. When I took the photos I wasn't really thinking, I just didn't want you both to hate me after having found something good in my life after so long on my own."

Overtaken suddenly with emotion Mildred wrapped her father in a hug. Together, father and daughter hugged for the first time ever.

* * *

"What do you think they were arguing about?" Hecate asked.

Ada shrugged. "I have no idea. But I believe one of them silenced that whole patch of the grounds so no one could eavesdrop. Still, I'm torn between wanting to know what would make Mildred scoot away from Merlin like that, what kind of news would make her move away from him and put distance between them. Whatever it was it was intense and she didn't like hearing it."

Hecate Hardbroom looked down at the grounds to where Mildred and Merlin were suddenly hugging. But what really bothered her was why the legendary warlock was looking so ashamed.

What did his shame have to do with Mildred? She doubted he was talking about his past for Mildred already knew most of what had happened in Merlin's life.

* * *

Mildred broke the hug. It had been different from hugging her mother, but it was just as warm. Mildred had always asked herself what her dads hugs would've been like, and now she knew. They were just as warm as Julie's, but Merlin had similarly thin arms to her mothers but he felt different, but she didn't mind that.

A thought occurred to her. "Is it okay if I tell mum about you…..dad?" she added the last word hesitantly.

Merlin looked like he was going to faint at the name she'd just called him. But he pushed it aside for the moment as he focused on what his daughter had just asked him - he wouldn't think of the brief reunion with his own father despite this situation bringing that memory back like an arrow to the heart, and the heart breaking letter he'd sent to his mother after Kilgharrah had been stopped from destroying Camelot - this was nothing like that. "Its up to you," he tried and failed to hide his fear of Julie's reaction. Her temper was as bad as their child's temper, but she'd have good reason for resenting him.

Mildred heard the emotion in her father's voice. "Dad, gosh its so good to finally know you, you're going to have to face her eventually. Besides I can't hide something like this from her. Everytime she spoke about you, she was more hurt than angry. Sure she might lose her temper with you when you do see her, but come on. You're supposed too be the most powerful wizard in the world, and you faced Morgana Pendragon herself. If you can do that and come out alive then you can't be afraid of my mum."

Merlin was amazed by how impassioned Mildred was, and he felt even more shame. What amazed him the most was how much Mildred seemed to remind him of herself. How many times had he had to make decisions that had been a matter of life and death? How many times had he needed to make Arthur grow a backbone when his king's foolishness had cost him dearly, like when he realised the treachery of Morgana and then later Agravaine?

He'd never had a problem with that, so why was he having a problem seeing Julie again? Was it because he was afraid of her and her reaction that he was back? But Merlin had other things to worry about. The Old Religion. What if he tried to see the woman he loved after Morgana and Freya and he was stopped? Merlin closed his eyes when he thought about Morgana and Freya; he had loved both women, and though he'd never acted on anything with Morgana out of his stupid fear of her destiny and his own worries and insecurities, Freya had been different. His love for her was matched by that of Julie. But he hadn't known or realised that until they'd gotten well into their time together.

Sometimes he asked himself if Freya had somehow been reincarnated as Julie since Freya had seemingly vanished from the Lake of Avalon. After Arthur's death he had taken it upon himself to visit the lake more often and Freya showed herself. During one of those meetings she had told him to stop pining for her, to meet someone else. He'd refused. Freya had been the love of his life, she had captured his attention when she'd been dragged inside that cage during his early years in Camelot, but she didn't want him to suffer.

Merlin frowned as he thought about Freya. His awareness of magic had grown and grown after that mess when Morgana had learnt of the truth about Emrys and had decided to simply remove his powers to stop him being a threat, so whenever he had been near Avalon he could feel Freya's life force in the lake. One day it was gone and he had no idea if she was still around or not, but he remembered how Freya had told him that even with everything he had done to make sure she lived even after Arthur had stabbed her after she'd transformed into a Bastet, she could and would die eventually.

The thought of another connection to his past life, to his memories of Camelot, lost to him forever was enough to depress him after he'd lost so much.

Arthur. His mother. Gaius. The knights. Camelot and Ealdor. Kilgharrah and Aithusa. Morgana, even. And now Freya, all gone.

When Merlin had met Julie all those years ago, he hadn't expected himself to fall in love again, but he had and he had embraced it because he was so tired of being alone, and back then he had become so frustrated with everything, but now he wasn't sure if the Old Religion had manipulated his life again into becoming infatuated with Julie. The only problem was she had been on his mind for years, if she was an infatuation put into his mind by the power that had given his life the purpose he had but never really wanted, then she would've been put out of his mind years ago so he wasn't convinced it was another manipulation. His life was empty despite all the things he did to try to keep himself occupied. He had studied and learnt many art forms, entered universities more than once and picked up doctorates that were just to pass the time rather than to actually go and make a career for himself. He'd tried that in the past, but in the long run as time and things changed Merlin had learnt careers were overrated.

Merlin shook his head and pushed his regrets out of the way and focused on his daughter. Mildred saw his emotions and how he'd shaken his head, but she didn't say a word. "Dad, will you please try to see her?"

As he looked into Mildred's brown eyes, Merlin found it hard to resist. He had spent the past 11 years feeling hatred for himself and for the Old Religion for keeping him away when they'd needed him.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

* * *

A few hours later Mildred was laying on her bed, exhausted. The meeting with Merlin had gone on for over an hour after he'd promised her he'd try to visit mum, but he'd had to tell her that the Old Religion might stop him from visiting her. Mildred couldn't see why that would be, and why such an ancient magical power would try to stop her from knowing her own father. Was it because of what she was destined to become?

She chuckled in disbelief. She'd known Merlin was her father for 3 hours now, and it was still surreal. But it made sense now after spending the last few months wondering where her magic had come from, but she'd never bothered to imagine her father was the one to pass magic onto her.

Choked hysterical laughter escaped Mildred's lips.

Merlin was her father.

She'd always been torn between finding a magical ancestor and just simply accepting that she was the first in her family to have magic in the first place, but finding out her magic came from the most powerful wizard in history….. Merlin had warned her about telling anyone about her paternity, told her that some people might try to hurt her because of who she was, but he'd told her she could tell a select few if she wished providing they kept it secret since he didn't want his only child placed in mortal danger since her future role was probably attracting attention already. But Mildred wanted to shout that she had her father back in her life and throw the fact he was Merlin in the faces of people like Ethel Hallow. Despite knowing the other girl for months now, even Mildred couldn't predict her reaction if she learnt that the girl she claimed did not belong at the academy because her mother was not a witch was actually Merlin's daughter.

There was a knock on the door.

"Millie, you in there?" It was Enid.

Mildred sat up. "Yeah, I'm in here."

"Can we come in? Maud's with me."

"Sure."

Now she had to face the music with her friends.

* * *

 **Author's note - This is the first time I've written an author's note like this, so please bear with me. I know it might be a little unrealistic and sudden that Mildred's father turns out to be Merlin. But it does make sense other than the fact the Old Religion randomly chose some child to become its new High priestess, just like how Balinor and Hunith's relationship gave birth to Emrys. I don't pretend to understand how the Old Religion determined how that relationship gave birth to Merlin, but I see it like a gift.**

 **In Mildred's case I believe that Freya, the Lady in the Lake would eventually have declined with the Old Religion that sustained her, but would leave only a small amount of her essence in the lake's waters which would return Excalibur when it was needed. I also wanted Merlin to be manipulated into having a relationship with Julie though Freya would've wanted Merlin to move on.**

 **I also apologise if you believe Mildred's anger was unlike her since in the books and the series Mildred has a fairly mild disposition, but as that last episode proved when Mildred vanished Maud's face from the mirror when she tried to call Mildred's flat, it proved in my mind that Mildred is like everybody else and has limits to how much she'll take. And bear in mind Mildred has probably never even heard of her father, except from her mum, who's probably hurt by his absence, and it passed onto Mildred. She's lashing out for her mother's sake.**

 **I hope as the series goes on Mildred's father is revealed, and I also think its a little unfair and a bit odd that Julie is the one most strongly believed to have passed on witchy powers onto Mildred. Why not the father?**


	8. Chapter 8 Are we still friends?

Disclaimer - The Worst Witch isn't mine. Just this story.

Please leave feedback and enjoy my story. I've posted this on my birthday, just to give something to you.

* * *

Are we still friends?

The door opened hesitantly, and Maud and Enid walked into Mildred's room. Mildred's heart plummeted at the looks on their faces. They looked nervous and there was definitely some hurt there, but now she wondered if her father had some wisdom in making her keep her paternity safe. No. There'd been enough secrets between them already, but she wondered how Maud and Enid would react to finding out her father was Merlin.

While Mildred was wrestling with her fears of what Maud and Enid would say, the two girls took note of the look on their friend's face. Mildred looked like she was wondering what she should say to them, and it looked like there were more secrets.

Both girls were upset with Mildred for keeping secrets from them, especially the one where she was going to be the first high priestess of the Old Religion for a millennium. Maud and Enid both came from old magical families, but they didn't really know anything about the Old Religion except the basics of its history. But what hurt them the most was that Mildred had hidden this from them both for so long, though after seeing the way the Great Wizard had acted and Mildred's fear of what could happen they couldn't really blame her.

Maud and Enid had been terrified when Miss Gullet had stabbed Mildred, even more than when their friend's anger had worked with her magic and shattered that glass, but Mildred's fear had been terrifying. No, what had frightened them both was when Mildred had conjured that whirlwind, that had been scary.

"Hey," Mildred said softly. She couldn't say anything more to either of her friends, since she wasn't too sure about what her two friends were thinking. She only hoped the secrets she had been forced to keep didn't destroy her friendships with both Maud and Enid.

"Hey," both girls returned, both unsure of how to go on with this.

Mildred's smile, already small, became a little bleaker. "Do you wanna sit down?"

Maud and Enid followed her advice and parked themselves on her bed, both petting Tabby when the cat padded over to them to say hello. All three girls looked awkwardly at one another, unsure of what to say next. Finally Maud broke the silence. "Mildred, why didn't you tell us?"

"After Merlin gave me that magic book, the one with all the spells he uses, the one his mentor gave him years ago to help him control his powers, he sent a letter to me. He told me not to show either the letter or the book to anybody unless it was necessary. The letter basically told me to be careful, there are some people out there who are already powerful but want more for themselves."

Maud and Enid couldn't argue with that since it was true. There was always a witch or wizard who tried to kill others for the sake of it, but there were some who wanted power for themselves, far more than they were allowed. People like the Great Wizard himself prevented that sort of thing from getting out of hand. But that didn't mean it didn't happen. Maybe Mildred's fears were justified, but both girls were hurt their friend hadn't trusted them enough to tell them.

But Mildred had more to say. "And besides, we both know that Ethel Hallow doesn't like being seen as second best. If she found out about the book, which she now knows about, what's to stop her from coming in a stealing it?"

Maud and Enid shared a look. Stealing possessions was - surprise, surprise - against the code all witches lived by, but that never seemed to bother Ethel, and both girls knew that the blonde would try some of the spells herself. Mildred wasn't really worried about that, from what she'd learnt the Old Religion was so rare now that not even a handful of people could use it correctly, and Ethel wouldn't be able to cast one spell in the book. Finally Mildred asked the one question that was on both girls minds.

"Are we still friends?"

"That's up to you, Mille," Enid replied, her voice hurt.

"I do want you to be my friends," Mildred said hesitantly but quickly. "I just wanted to spend my time studying this magic. It was amazing reading the incantations and casting those spells without things going pear shaped. I was planning on telling you about what I was doing" Mildred went on. "But I'd wanted to learn a few more spells and gain some control over them, but I wasn't expecting the Great Wizard to turn up and spill the beans."

"Hold on, I thought in the hall you'd forgiven him?"

"I did. I forgave him for his mistake, but that doesn't mean I'm happy for what he said in front of everyone in the hall. There is a difference between holding a grudge and not being happy with what happened. It was going to come out about what I was doing in here," Mildred waved a hand dramatically around her bedroom. "But I didn't want him to go so far."

Enid nodded, understanding Mildred's point. "Ah, I get it."

"So do I, but what will you do now?" Maud asked.

Mildred sighed. "Continue to practice, and learn all I can about the Old Religion, with help from Merlin," she added, barely managing to hide a smile at the looks of awe plastered on her friend's faces.

"Merlin," Maud whispered in awe, eyes glazed at the thought of learning from the legendary wizard. Enid was similarly dazed by the knowledge she'd just seen Merlin. "What did he say to you outside, Mildred?"

Both girls felt foreboding settling in as the smile faded from Mildred's face. Mildred thought for a moment what she was about do and what she could say. She had been toying with telling Enid and Maud about what Merlin had said to her outside since she'd returned from the grounds, but now she had the perfect time. It was a risk, but Mildred trusted her friends, and she hoped she could count on them both to keep quiet.

Reaching into her pocket, Mildred's hands found the photograph Merlin had given her before he'd left, and she took it out and handed it over to Maud, Enid leaned over to get a good look. Maud blinked in bewilderment as she looked at the photo, and she and Enid looked into their friend's face. Maud and Enid had both met Julie Hubble and even spoken to her during the mirror calls Mildred had with her, just to say hello, and they both liked the woman. But they hadn't expected to see her so young, but it was the man next to her that surprised them both.

"Mildred, this is a picture of your mother, but why is Merlin in it?" Enid asked in confusion.

Mildred leaned closer and whispered. "Don't tell anyone about what I'm about to say, either of you, because I don't want it getting out on top of everything else. Promise me."

Once both confused girls made their promises to keep Mildred's newest secret, Mildred braced herself. Maud wanted to tell Mildred they would keep their secrets amongst each other, seeing as they were friends, but she and Enid were caught by surprise by what Mildred said next.

"He's my father."

What? The two girls exchanged a wide eyed look of surprise and then looked back at Mildred. Neither girl knew what to say to Mildred's admission, and when they did try to speak, words failed them and so they couldn't utter a sound. They just couldn't believe what Mildred had just said to them both, and after everything that had happened today, could they be blamed for being speechless?

Finally Maud said, "He's your father?"

Mildred nodded, inwardly disappointed her two friends hadn't said anything else besides the obvious, but she supposed they were both trying to take what she'd just told them in. Mildred didn't blame them; it had been hard for her to take as well. "Yeah," she said shortly. "I've just found out today," she added in case either of her friends got it into their heads she'd known about this her whole life. "I've always wanted to know my father, find out what made him just….disappear from our lives. And all this time I'd thought my magic had come from my mother, now I find my magic came from Merlin himself. Now I know why he couldn't be with us."

"What do you mean?" Enid asked in concern, still reeling from the news Mildred was Merlin's daughter.

"The Old Religion," Mildred spat, the anger fermenting dangerously within her, and alarming her friends in its intensity. They had never seen Mildred in this state before, the hall incident didn't count, and both girls were a little scared. But Mildred didn't notice, she was too busy wallowing in her grief. She loved the fact she could cast spells correctly now with only a small degree of error, but that did not mean she liked what her dad had said. "It kept my father away from mum, all these years where we could've been a family, and the Old Religion took him away from us. He couldn't even approach us - the last time he tried it nearly killed him."

Maud saw Enid about to open her mouth to ask something else, but she hushed the other girl. This was not the time, and besides after seeing what happened the last time Mildred lost her temper, Maud did not want to see it happening again. They needed to be supportive of Mildred, and questioning her when she was in this mood was asking for trouble.

It took a few more minutes but eventually Mildred regained her composure, and she looked sheepishly at her friends. "Sorry," she muttered.

Maud wrapped her in a hug, and Enid followed. "Hey, you don't need to be sorry for being angry, but we're just shocked, that's all."

"So am I," Mildred whispered. "I can scarcely believe it myself. I keep expecting to wake up like its all a dream. It's just… my mother raised me by herself, and she rarely spoke to me about dad; she didn't want to hide anything, but she was just so confused and so hurt by his disappearance, and she didn't even have picture left so I'd know him by sight. As I grew older I began to wonder if he even wanted his children to know what he looked like, so we could find him."

She pulled away from her friends and looked down at her knees, the aura of sadness so palpable Enid and Maud began feeling like they were intruding in Mildred's personal life.

"I've forgiven him, but I was so angry at first. I've told him he'll need to reunite with my mother, and god knows what will happen there," she said.

Enid and Maud's own experiences with Julie Hubble told them that the woman had a similar disposition to Mildred's. They had never seen her really angry before, and they didn't want to either after seeing her daughter's temper.

"When is this going to happen, your parents meeting?"

"During the summer, I just dunno how its going to go down, that's the trouble. There's a chance my father will be stopped coming to meet us, though I can't imagine why since he was able to see me today."

THAT was what was scaring Mildred the most.

"I hope it goes well, Millie," Maud said, hoping that she didn't sound jealous that her best friend was the daughter of probably the most powerful wizard in history. It was unfair of her to be jealous since Mildred hadn't even known about her paternity until now. But Maud hoped she wouldn't get jealous about Mildred's surprising future, her powers, and her paternity in time.

"So do I," Mildred replied, but then she changed the subject. "Anyway, what happened after Merlin and I left the hall? Did they take Miss Gullet away?"

Maud and Enid exchanged an uneasy look.

"Well, didn't they?" Mildred pressed.

Maud took a deep breath. "Mildred, Miss Gullet managed to escape."

Mildred's eyes flashed gold for a second, but to the relief of her fiends she didn't lose her temper. "How? How come she got away?"

"We don't know when it happened, Millie, but we think Miss Gullet escaped when Merlin came into the hall," Enid replied. "Everyone was so distracted - its not everyday Merlin himself is seen - and in the confusion, she got away."

"Oh, I see," Mildred replied. She wasn't happy - Miss Gullet had almost killed her, and would've done if her power over the Old Religion hadn't healed the wound.

Maud remembered something during the confrontation. "Do you think she's gone back to Agatha, Millie?"

Mildred shrugged. Personally she didn't really care what happened to Miss Gullet, in fact she doubted many others did either. While Mildred was no stranger to hearing about health and safety, it wasn't cool for someone to go on and on about it the way Miss Gullet did. And before the revelation of her crimes had come out, the woman hadn't been Mildred's favourite teacher. Miss Gullet was a pretender - she pretended to be a nice, caring, smart and compassionate woman, but once inside a lesson you realised how duped you were, but Mildred hadn't expected her role as a pretender to be so literal when she met Mr Rowan-Webb in the pond.

"She's got nowhere else to go, and Agatha needs someone to do her dirty work for her now," Mildred replied. "What will happen to her after what she's done?"

"You mean what will happen to her after she'd stabbed you?" Enid clarified, wincing when she caught the look on Mildred's face. "Well, the Witches's code is very clear. Attacks on minors are forbidden, and if she's caught after what she tried to do, her punishment could be identical or even worse than Agatha's."

"Children are very important in our world, Mildred," Maud added. "Children ensure the survival of the Craft, and they add new ideas that keep our world going. The laws such as the code are harsh, but they're kept safe."

Mildred frowned, wondering if Maud, Enid, and the Great Wizard knew about child abuse which sometimes happened in the world she had left behind when she'd learnt about magic. But she couldn't deny the magical stance against harming children - witches and wizards had magic, and therefore they could cause great harm to children if they wanted, so was it any surprise they would impose strict laws against harm happening in their world? No.

Miss Gullet had known of the rules, Mildred refused to believe she didn't, the woman had been a teacher at a magical school for heaven's sake, and yet the stupid cow had stabbed her in front of witnesses, including her teachers and the Great Wizard and his entourage.

Mildred shuddered at the memory of the pain the knife had caused when it had been driven into her stomach, but pleased she hadn't died, but when she tried to imagine the kind of punishment the woman might receive for her crimes, Mildred didn't feel an ounce of pity for her. But now she had more important things to worry about.

"Maud, Enid," she began hesitantly. "I'm sorry I kept secrets from you, all this time. I wanted to tell you this because I didn't want to hide anything else. Please forgive me?"

Maud and Enid glanced at each other and then at Mildred. One thing went into their minds; she did trust them, she did want them to know about her secrets, and they would help her keep them without any chance of blabbing them out. Mildred had trusted them enough to tell her the news which had probably shattered all her beliefs, and they knew she hadn't meant to hide her destiny for so long.

"Oh, you silly slug," Maud said fondly, grabbing her in a firm hug. "Of course we forgive you. We're just glad you trusted us with this news."

* * *

Miss Gullet winced in pain as she returned to the small house which had been her home after she'd been driven from the academy. The house wasn't her home, not in her mind, not even after all the time she had spent here. No, she'd purchased the place a long time ago after she'd been accepted as the Spells science mistress at the academy, but since the academy had been her home, the property wasn't really furnished with anything but the bare essentials. It was more of a holiday retreat, really, a place to simply escape to if she found the stresses at work too great for her to cope with. But it also provided Miss Gullet with the option of practicing magic and experimenting with spells and potions. Like most, if not all witches, and in some cases wizards though that lot pretended to know everything and disregard everything else that they didn't even try to understand and hide it under a veil of arrogance though some witches were guilty of the same thing, Miss Gullet's home was fully equipped with a potions laboratory and a library of spell books. It was in this house that Miss Gullet wrote the first draft of her Health and safety manual.

Even during the holidays, she liked experimenting with new spells to teach the students, and they had learnt quite a lot after she had performed the experiments and had even taught them rules to follow in order to practice their own. Not anymore though. She had been fired from her job, forced to live here. No one had really known about the house because it was private, and besides magical communication didn't exactly need an address, so it wasn't unusual.

The anonymity of the house was what made it perfect to live in now Miss Gullet had been fired from Cackle's academy after that froggy fool had been found in the pond, and because no one knew about it, she was safe. The only problem she had now was dealing with the pain in her chest and head. She barely remembered anything, she just remembered the whirlwind Mildred - Mildred Hubble had managed to cast a spell, she still found that hard to believe, having endured weeks of the girl's virtual incompetence - had conjured to attack her, and the way it had spun her round and round until she'd felt ill before impacting that wall before she'd regained consciousness. When she'd woken up, there had been another wizard in the hall, but Miss Gullet hadn't stayed long enough to catch his name, and transported herself back to her house.

The stress and the magic she had used to return had nearly made her catatonic with pain. She had needed an hour to recover, and by the time she had she summoned some of the healing books she had stashed in the house's library to help her heal her injuries. But when she'd examined herself, Miss Gullet had been surprised that her injuries - which included broken bones - were on the mend already, so someone must have healed her, but when she'd studied the diagnosis she had paled; Miss Gullet had learnt enough about anatomy and magical medicine as part of her studies to be a Spells science mistress because there were dangers in her classes which would need help, and besides it was good for health and safety experts like her to be prepared for anything, so she knew that the healed injuries to her body had been fatal.

How could this be? Another thing to turn up on the magical diagnosis she had cast over herself was that the magic used to heal her was incredibly powerful magic, but she didn't recognise it. After summoning some simple food - cheese, bread, some fruit and some water - Miss Gullet felt strength return to her, and she'd fallen asleep.

When she'd woken up, she remembered the magic Mildred had used against her and everyone who had gotten in her way in the Great Hall. Could Mildred have used the same magical power to help her? At first she simply couldn't believe it - Mildred Hubble was many things, but she was anything but a skilled witch, and yet she had managed to cast lightning. That was possible, but not such a concentrated amount of lightning, and then there was the whirlwind. Miss Gullet knew many weather spells, but she also knew elemental magic. It was simply not possible for any witch or wizard to conjure a whirlwind that big and so powerful. So how could Mildred have done it?

She shook her head. She would have contact Agatha later, let her know about what had happened at the school. Miss Gullet cringed, knowing that the twin sister of her former headmistress would most displeased by what she had done. Oh, Agatha had no problems thinking about Mildred Hubble dying; she'd told Ethel Hallow, knowing the girl had a grudge against the scruffy little bitch, to put a curse on the broomstick during the Great Wizard's original visit to the academy, to make Mildred fall off and kick Ada out of her position. Mildred dying or being mortally wounded would've been the icing on the cake.

But Agatha knew they could only do so much, and Miss Gullet wasn't stupid - she knew Agatha needed her because while her own crime of transforming a wizard into a frog simply to have his job was bad, it wasn't on the same level as Agatha's crime. Miss Gullet still had her magical powers and her knowledge. Agatha didn't, and they needed each other.

But Agatha had proven herself to be the commanding member of their partnership. And she didn't like being ignored, or her suggestions and her demands to not be obeyed. She had warned Miss Gullet about going to the school to attack Mildred, but Miss Gullet had grown desperate while the pair of them tried to work out a way they could get into the school and take it over without being forced to run away again. Granted, she should've just crept into Mildred's room and killed her then, but Miss Gullet had wanted to have some work at the school - if she had a position there again, she might find a way of getting Agatha in safely without the woman being seen. She didn't care about the code - to her the Witches code was something wizards used to shackle witches down, and to her witches were more important than wizards. Merlin may have helped King Arthur and guided him, but to her witches like Morgana were the ones to truly shape magical history. Wizards just took all the credit.

But Cackle and Hardbroom had stopped her there, but it was Mildred Hubble who had figured out her involvement with Agatha when no one else had managed to reach the same conclusion.

Miss Gullet pushed that aside, and decided to simply sleep off the pain. After casting a few mild healing spells she hoped would work, and wouldn't interfere with whatever had been used to heal her, she went to sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days Mildred tried to keep her head down and just try to be the same girl she had been before Merlin's arrival and what the Great Wizard had announced in front of everyone in the hall, but she was fighting a losing battle. When the Great Wizard had announced to everyone in the school about what she was meant to become, some of the girls had decided to put Mildred onto a pedestal without bothering to do any research into the Old Religions' history. Other girls like Ethel Hallow were furious about the attention Mildred had received, but after Merlin's unexpected appearance at the school, none of the girls wanted to get on the wrong side of Mildred. Though they didn't want to do that anyway, not after seeing her power first hand. The teachers had started doing their best to mitigate the worst of the attention put on Mildred's shoulders, but that didn't mean Mildred didn't still struggle with the Craft spells and potions, but spell wise she was improving now she had found some confidence in herself. While many of the teachers had been dubious about Mildred's inclusion into the school, they had gone along with it because they had wondered whether the girl would thrive in a magical environment like Cackle's, but when they'd learnt her grades were sub standard with what they usually got all year round, many of them had wondered if Ada had gone off the deep end with her seemingly blind faith in Mildred Hubble.

Now they were eating their words.

Mildred was improving, slowly yes, but improving. She still had trouble remembering incantations and understanding the power behind them, but she was improving as she studied. It helped matters that Mildred was allowed to use both the Old Religion and the Craft, which was allowed after Mildred and Miss Cackle had spoken to each other in the headmistress's office, but what had really surprised some of the teachers was that Mildred didn't seem to know her own magical strength, and whenever she cast ordinary spells they were too overpowered. The meeting hadn't been unexpected in Mildred's mind, she'd expected it after Merlin had left and with the state of the hall, it would have been really stupid if her teachers hadn't wanted her there.

The meeting had happened shortly after Mildred had said goodbye to her friends after they'd visited her in her bedroom. Well, Miss Hardbroom had come to the door, knocked on it, and ushered Mildred off to the office. Mildred hadn't said a word to her potion's teacher, she didn't know whether Miss Hardbroom would bite her head off, or if she would be ignored. And in any case the woman didn't seem in any way inclined to speak, so the journey was made in uncomfortable silence, but from time to time Mildred felt the looks of uncertainty on Miss Hardbroom's face, but she didn't say anything about it. Mildred wasn't in the mood to talk to her potions teacher, especially out here in the corridor where there were bound to be prying ears and eyes, and after what she'd learnt outside she didn't want to speak even more.

Miss Cackle was sitting at the desk when they'd arrived, and Mildred had been pointed to the same seat that she always sat in whenever she was sent to this office - why she couldn't be told to sit somewhere else, she didn't know, but at least it would be a bit of variety so she didn't feel as bad whenever she was made to come here - and waited for Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom to sit down or start talking. She hadn't cared which.

"I am sorry, Mildred, for the way you were embarrassed in the Great Hall," Miss Cackle began.

Mildred's face creased into a frown. "Miss?" She asked, confused. She had seen the looks the wizard had received in the hall, but she hadn't expected this.

"We had to inform the Great Wizard of your studies into the Old Religion, Mildred, and Miss Hardbroom and myself went to visit an old friend of mine who can use spells from the old ways, and she told us about your becoming the first high priestess in a millennia. When he arrived at the school earlier this morning, we told him to just keep it short by giving a brief summary of the Old Religion. We all tried to tell him not to give too much away, but he didn't listen."

"I did see the looks sent towards him," Mildred commented.

"We're sorry he embarrassed you."

"When did you realise what I was doing?" Mildred asked. She wasn't in the mood for sob apologies from Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom. She couldn't change the past even with her powers, and truthfully she didn't want to go that far. Right now this meeting was giving her the perfect opportunity to get some answers. Right now the top question on her mind was learning when the teachers in front of her had learnt about her practicing the magic she'd been born with.

"When Miss Hardbroom knocked that water over," Miss Cackle explained. "Your eyes turned gold. I recognised it when my friend used the magic herself. But when did you receive this magic book?"

Mildred told her, but she added, "I'm not giving that book up." It was practically a family heirloom. Unfortunately her emotions were getting the better of her again, and Miss Cackle was quick to reassure the girl. "No, Mildred, we're not planning on taking the book away."

It went unsaid by both parties that it was unlikely anyone would be able to even touch the book. But Mildred made a mental note to carry it with her at all times, though how she didn't know.

"So, you watched me perform the spells?" Mildred didn't know what else to say. She'd known they'd seen her practice magic in her room, conjured those jars, played those games to improve her spell repertoire. They'd practically admitted it for god's sake.

"Yes."

Mildred made another mental note to find a spell in the book to stop people eavesdropping or wandering invisible into her room; Miss Hardbroom could claim she was looking out for the students, or at the very least learn if they concocting some nasty scheme, but others could take that so far.

Finally Miss Hardbroom could not keep silent. "Mildred, I saw you look…..uneasy with Merlin. Why was that?"

"Merlin," Mildred had to do her best to keep from stumbling over her father's name, "has been watching me for years, and I never even knew about it. When I first met him in the Hall, I'd only known about him in history and in those letters he sent to me, I didn't even know what he was going to say to me."

Both teachers weren't suspicious about that reply, and seemed satisfied, but Mildred had been around both of these women in this room often enough to know when something was bothering them. That was when it occurred to her that they had witnessed the shouting match she had had with her dad after he'd told her who he was to her. For a second she was tempted to tell both of them what her dad said, but she decided against it. While she had no problems trusting these two teachers there was no guarantee they'd treat her the same as always. Mildred knew that everyone in the school would be judging her about her future, and she didn't need everyone knowing she was Merlin's daughter on top of that.

She didn't want people's attitudes to change from condescending into fawning. Mildred wasn't like Ethel who would have lauded such news about like nobody's business. Mildred had already told Maud and Enid about her paternity. That was enough in her mind, anymore and she could kiss goodbye to her privacy. She was already treated with scorn, and as much as she wanted things to change she didn't want to change things like that.

Merlin was practically a god to these people for good reason. If they found out she was his daughter….. Mildred almost vomited at the mental image of Miss Hardbroom becoming a weak, simpering idiot around her in classes instead of being the same woman who was harsh and too opinionated for her own good and had made her first weeks a nightmare because she genuinely believed that she didn't belong here as a student, and herself lapping it up, coming to believe she deserved it. She had no idea where the image came from since it wasn't in her nature to act that way.

No. She wasn't going to tell them. It had nothing to do with trust, it was a case of her own mental wellbeing.

"What's going to happen about what went on in the hall? Maud and Enid told me Merlin reversed the damage, but what will happen to me after what happened?" Mildred asked; she knew she sounded out of character with a hope she'd be punished for losing control the way she had, but she didn't want special treatment because she would become the new high priestess.

Both Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom were astonished, they were literally speechless that Mildred would even want punishment to the point of begging for it. While they weren't too happy about the manner in which Mildred had lost her temper and in turn lost control over her magic, they couldn't fault her for being frightened. The girl had spent weeks learning this amazing power, learning how to control it. She had been safe in the belief her privacy wasn't being invaded more than it was. It had frightened the teachers that Mildred had been spied on her entire life and it worried her about what Merlin would do later on with her, and in the space of a single day everyone soon learnt about Mildred's secret and her destiny.

That was when Miss Hardbroom realised what Mildred wanted. So she leaned over and conferred silently with Ada, and after a few minutes of speaking - Mildred noticed Miss Cackle look a little unsure, but she obviously relented - they broke apart and stared at her. "Very well, Mildred, you shall spend detention with me for the next few days in the potions laboratory. I shall consider your punishment then," Miss Hardbroom said, stumbling and hesitating a little over the last few words.

"Thank you, Miss Hardbroom."

After that Mildred had willed the hours away to the detention. Most girls found her reaction to the impending punishment weird, even if many of them thought Mildred was sometimes strange, but they didn't say anything. Mildred didn't bother talking to Enid and Maud about her mindset - they wouldn't understand her need to return to normalcy, which entailed being shouted at, ignored, degraded and systematically teased about her ignorance of magical culture. Did they really think if they treated her any differently she'd be less ignorant? This was a good start. Hopefully after the first few detentions everyone would soon learn to forget about her destiny (she would not think about Morgana), and move on. The only problem was everyone now knew about her practicing habits, but she couldn't say or do anything about it.

Miss Hardbroom was waiting for her outside the lab. Silently the black clad woman ushered her inside. "Sit down, Mildred," she ordered with a lazy gesture towards a stool opposite the desk.

Mildred did so. "What am I going to be doing?" She asked, glancing around the lab; she'd been in detention in this room often enough to know Miss Hardbroom's punishments were gruesome for maximum impact, be it cleaning the cauldrons by hand so the chemical smells destroyed your sense of smell, or by cleaning the entire lab in a whole night which took hours so when you attended classes the next day you'd be lucky to stand up straight never mind keep awake for the lessons in the first place, or just writing lines until your hands fell off from lack of circulation.

But there was no sign of any cleaning equipment. No writing material. No dirty and used cauldrons waiting in a heap. The lab was clean and tidy, with everything in its proper place. It was just her and Miss Hardbroom, and while it was a scary proposition Mildred was prepared for anything.

But she wasn't prepared for what came out of HB's mouth. "We're going to be talking."

"What?" Mildred asked gobsmacked.

Miss Hardbroom smirked slightly at the expression of the preteen sitting across from her. "We are going to talk. That's it. No cleaning, no lines, nothing like that. I just want to talk."

Mildred chuckled. "Why? What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Because I worked out in Miss Cackle's office why you, who truly hates being punished, wants to be punished tonight at this very minute. Don't think I'm blind Mildred, I've been watching you for a long time. I know you want to settle in and really become a witch."

Miss Hardbroom's reply angered Mildred more than anything, though Mildred doubted it was the older witch's intention to anger her. This woman had this insight into her personality all this time, and yet she'd still punished her, used her like a personal boxing bag for no reason other than she could? But what really angered her the most were her first and last two parts of that statement. She hadn't wanted anyone to catch wind or at least have a guess about her motives for getting punished, and yet this woman who spent so much time blaming her for everything had gained an insight into her nature. Another thing that bothered her was the part of being watched - it was bad enough Merlin had done it, and that was before he'd told her the truth of her paternity. But Miss Hardbroom….. Mildred had never liked the way the woman appeared from nowhere when she and her friends were talking amongst each other and used what they'd said in the supposed privacy against them, and she liked it even less now she knew the woman had been spying on her. But it was the last part which really, really, really pissed Mildred off. How dare she dangle her dream of becoming a fully fledged witch in front of her, like it was an excuse for all the bullying that was heaped on her shoulders?

Swallowing her anger, Mildred decided to get on with it. "You're right. I do want to be a witch. I dreamt of little else when I was a small girl and could see this school from the sitting room of my flat. But I don't see why that's relevant."

Miss Hardbroom leaned over the table, her eyes beadily locking onto Mildred's own eyes. "It's relevant to you, Mildred, but I want to make something clear to you. I didn't like the thought of spying on you, I don't like spying on any of the girls if they are trying to be better than they were before. But when I saw the joy you took practicing those ancient spells, how effortlessly you cast them and the results…..They amazed me."

Mildred blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"They amazed me, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom repeated as she tried to keep her patience. Sometimes, the older witch reflected, speaking to Mildred meant having to repeat herself, but she had to admit this whole situation was bizarre. The words she was speaking alone confused her as much as Mildred, so there was symmetry.

"But what's that got to do with this detention?"

"I know that you don't want all the attention, Mildred, and I guessed you wanted to be punished because you want things to go back to how they were."

Mildred sank deeper into her chair without meaning too. She hated how this woman who had never stopped criticising her and making her feel unwelcome here at the school had managed to guess the real desire for punishment after that mess today. It was ironic - her friends and Miss Cackle hadn't understood her desire for normalcy to return to her life, and yet Miss Hardbroom who had been so hard and harsh on her had worked it out without really going to any effort.

Seeing no point in hiding her reasoning, Mildred said, "I didn't want people falling all over themselves, making me feel like a god. I'm not Ethel Hallow, I'm Mildred Hubble. I wasn't raised to act like a spoilt brat, and I don't want to act like one just because of my destiny," she made air quotes there which showed her potions teacher some of her true feelings on the matter, "I want to continue to learn how to use my powers, both in the Old Religion and in the Craft. I don't want everyone to put me onto a pedestal. I've seen things like that happen, and they inevitably lose their popularity. It's the same thing with football or tennis players - there are some really good ones who are lauded and celebrated, and yet they're replaced by others, or have some of their secrets revealed to the public. I don't want that. I just want to be my own person without people expecting too much of me."

Mildred took a deep breath as she fell silent. She had rarely spoken so passionately in her entire life. But it seemed to have made an effect on Miss Hardbroom. The woman actually looked impressed.

"A very eloquent speech, but while I don't like you demeaning one of your fellow students I have to agree with your opinion of Ethel. I also commend you on your attitude to continue studying both forms of magic, and I also see your point of view of celebrities and why you would want to avoid something like that. But you must understand that people will form their own opinions of you, and you cannot expect others to treat you how you want them too," the teacher said softly but without menace. "There is also the added issue of everyone knowing you will become the high priestess, and some people might place unfair standards on you. I know you do not want that, but you need not fear. We'll help you."

While Mildred was delighted HB was seeing her point about wanting to keep a low profile and just be the same person as ever, she was a little upset it might never be possible, she was pleased that the teachers might actually help her keep as low a profile as possible. But something caught her attention. "What was that about Ethel?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.

Miss Hardbroom narrowed her gaze into her usual disapproving one. Well, it was nice while it lasted having a more kinder HB around Mildred thought to herself. "I don't think that is relevant, do you Miss Hubble?"

Mildred nodded quickly, but she now thought she knew what HB was trying to say. It was clear that while HB was impressed by Ethel, she wasn't impressed enough, and besides she'd just gotten it from the horses mouth that even the potions teacher had gotten bored of Ethel, but she didn't care. It wasn't her problem unless the other girl realised it in time and decided to take it out on others simply to vent her spleen.

"So what else does this talk entail?" Mildred dared to ask. She wanted to get this over with, now while her sanity was still present. She had been looking forward to this punishment because it would have felt like old times. But Miss Hardbroom had disappointed her.

Miss Hardbroom took the question in her stride. "I wanted to offer you my help, Mildred," she said. "I want to help you."

Mildred didn't bother hiding her surprise but she got over it quickly enough. "You want to help me, but how?"

"You did say you wanted to learn how to use the Craft, and I agree with you there. I cannot help you with the Old Religion, but I can help you in using the Craft. What do you say to my offer, Mildred?"

Mildred didn't know what to say. She had been hoping against hope to work up the courage to ask someone like Miss Hardbroom for help with her studies for some time now, but she'd never worked up the nerve since Miss Hardbroom was just looking for an excuse, or so she'd thought, to kick her out of Cackles. Ever since Mildred had started studying the magic her father had grown up with and learnt, she had been moving beyond her uncertainty with the Craft, but it was still there. She didn't know for sure whether or not her problems with magical compatibility was still present, but she was able to use modern day spells. Still, having someone like HB helping her was a benefit. "Definitely, but I'm not sure what spells I can and can't do," she replied.

Miss Hardbroom nodded. "What better way than to learn? I know that your magic is more geared to that of the Old Religion, but don't depend on it too much. Learning the Craft takes time and dedication, something you have in abundance."

Mildred was beginning to wonder if she was going to be spending this whole meeting being flattered needlessly. "What makes you say that?"

"That time where Mr Rowan-Webb brought you back to be tested aside, you have worked long and hard to fit in and to learn," Miss Hardbroom replied.

Mildred wondered how HB had discovered her intention to leave, but imagined Mr Rowan-Webb had informed the other teachers of her intention to just give up, leave Cackles. She had dozens of reasons for wanting to leave, quite a few of them had to do with the school and learning magic in general and stumbling without meaning to all over the place. But Maud and Enid themselves had a big hand to play. At the time she had become so heartily sick of the fighting between Maud and Enid who were far from friendly at the time, the way Maud believed herself better than her and Enid simply because she put the effort into studying, and the way the woman sitting on the opposite side of the table had called her a disgrace. Besides, after receiving her favourite toy in the post, Mildred had been reminded of all the good times she'd had at home, and wondered if her fantasies were even worth it.

Being transformed into a frog hadn't helped change her opinion either. Mildred didn't care what anyone said, she was convinced Ethel would never have reversed the spell after being changed into a pig, but one thing was certain; if the blond girl who seemed determined to be her enemy tried anything like that again, ever to her or to another student, she would end up wishing she had stayed at home, safe to crawl underneath her bed by the time Mildred was through with her. But she had stayed, and now she had discovered a magical talent she hadn't expected, and she had met her own father after believing she'd never see him ever.

Uncaring about the mention of how she'd come close to simply packing it all in and leaving Maud and Enid to their own devices because even Mildred had her tolerance tested by the pair, Mildred looked back at the teacher. "Okay," she said slowly, hoping not to sound too desperate to change the subject in case Miss Hardbroom showed she could read minds as easily as she could reading a book. "When do you want to start?"

Miss Hardbroom smiled. "We can start now, Mildred, but let me tell you I expect you to work hard."

"I understand, Miss Hardbroom, but when do you want to tutor me?"

"We can discuss that later," Miss Hardbroom replied after a second's thought. "Shall we get to work?"

* * *

Author's note - I always wanted to know why Mildred simply didn't ask Miss Hardbroom for help. I mean, that is what teachers are there for. And while Mildred's a little frightened of the woman, I felt by the end of the season they'd sort of reached some kind of understanding with one another. There were signs of Miss Hardbroom liking Mildred, and I think deep down she was grateful to Mildred for bringing her and Pippa Pentangle back together as friends. I think if Mildred asked her for help for real, Miss Hardbroom would probably say yes. But here she has heard that Mildred wishes to be better, and has given her an offer.

I hope I was realistic when it came to Mildred's fears of being placed on a pedestal. You see it all the time - in magazines there are trashy stories of scandals that celebrities always get themselves into, and pop bands and actors are popular one day and then someone else comes along and they're just forgotten. Mildred doesn't want that, she wants to be respected for who she is, and she's worried she might become similar in personality to Ethel Hallow.

I hope I gave a realistic reason why Mildred wanted to leave Cackles before and after being transformed into a frog. I got the impression she wasn't just tired of the put downs, but also of Maud and Enid; while I like the pair, I sometimes think Maud expects a bit too much. I also think she's a bit of a goody goody at times, but she is likeable.


	9. Chapter 9 Changes in the Air

Changes in the Air.

The weeks passed by at Cackle's academy since the revelation in the Great Hall, and with the workload came the realisation the end of year exams would be coming, and soon the girls from all years would be sitting the exams, and the teachers were now beginning to test the knowledge of the girls in the classes. Homework was stacking up with an emphasis on studying the practicals as well as the theories. For the older girls it was another part of the tradition at the academy, for the newer girls like Maud, Ethel, Felicity and Drusilla it was only expected. They had always known there would be exams at the end of the year from the stories and lectures they'd received until their ears were ringing from them by their parents. Enid had heard the same thing. It was a tradition covered by many magical schools - wizard and witch and mixed schools - to have exams about what had been covered during the year. Mildred accepted the logic of the exams and it gave her another reason to keep her head down and hope nothing new came along to disrupt her hopes of returning to the academy in the following term.

The workload was welcomed by Mildred since many of the others were now concentrating on other matters rather than seeing if her being the first high priestess in a millennia was credible. But she had another reason for welcoming the exams and the seemingly endless study.

Her private lessons with Miss Hardbroom. No one aside from Maud and Enid and Miss Cackle and maybe one or two of the other teachers knew about them, and Mildred wanted it to stay that way because she didn't want it getting out on top of everything else. When the dark potions mistress had first come to her with the offer of private tuition of learning more of the Craft spells, Mildred had been delighted and happy that at last she was finally going to receive some help into understanding the magic everyone else used though she'd also felt a bit of foreboding at being with HB. She hated not getting anywhere with the theory of spell science, in fact it was one of the many reasons she had never gotten along with Ethel and Miss Gullet, but now she had an experienced expert helping her.

But during their first lessons, Miss Hardbroom had become exasperated with Mildred. The deputy headmistress had wanted her to change a simple mouse into a hamster - it was a pathetically easy spell for witches to use, and it was taught to children, and yet Mildred had problems with it, and then the teacher had come to a conclusion.

Mildred had not lived with magic until the last year, her mother couldn't practice it as well so she hadn't taught her daughter how magic worked. After the third failure which resulted in the same unfortunate mouse being changed into other small creatures - a gerbil, a rat which was later transformed into various colours - grey, black, brown, and white, even gold! - And the later field mouse, vole, and shrew, and even a small weasel - Miss Hardbroom had realised what the problem was. Finally, it occurred to her what the problem was. Took her long enough.

"We should have covered this when you'd first entered the academy, Mildred," the woman had said when the pair of them were sitting at the desk. "I am sorry. It would have spared us and you many headaches."

Mildred had frowned. "What do you mean, Miss?" she'd asked.

Miss Hardbroom didn't reply at once, instead she'd looked around the potions laboratory, clearly thinking over how she could respond. "When you've attend spell science classes, do some of the other girls say spells differently to achieve the same results the teacher - whether it was Miss Gullet or Mr Rowan-Webb - sets you a task?"

"Yes, they do."

"That's the problem, Mildred. You see boys and girls born in our world are taught by their parents from a young age in understanding potions and magic. This homeschooling is a tradition harking back to, well, the days before Merlin because there weren't that many places they could learn how to use magic."

"I know. And besides the Old Religion takes years of practice and study for sorcerers, whereas witches and warlocks are born with it." Mildred had said, nodding in understanding. She had already known about the homeschooling bit from her time with her friends. It had taken her a second to realise Miss Hardbroom was looking at her curiously. "I never knew that about the Old Religion," she said honestly.

"Only people like Morgana and my- Merlin," Mildred had to correct herself, but it was hard to speak about her newly discovered father as if they weren't related, "were born with magic so they didn't need to go the extra mile by long term study, but otherwise sorcerers and sorceresses had to learn magic in order to cast it. It took a long time."

One look at her teacher and Mildred could tell she had caught the correction, but Miss Hardbroom didn't press the matter. She looked thoughtful again. "Does, er, does your mother cook any recipes that are in the books but adds her own approach, like including different ingredients or not using some listed?"

Mildred had begun to have a good idea where this line of questioning was leading to, but she'd answered the question anyway. "Sometimes. She would add different kinds of meat to spaghetti bolognese which wasn't included in the formal recipe, but she made it more delicious. Are you saying that witches and wizards use different words to cast their spells than what is in the books?"

"Sometimes. I'm sure you've noticed that spell books in the library are fairly thin or thick? That's because the readers are aware that as long as they have the right foundation for the spell they're hoping to use, they can use whatever chant they like, or they may not bother to say an incantation."

Mildred had realised what Miss Hardbroom was trying to tell her long before she'd finished. She had always wondered why there were so many ways to light a fire, transform someone into a frog or a pig, but it hadn't been explained to her like this. "Is that why when you made me try to change that mouse into a frog, it kept turning into things which rhymed with frog?"

"Yes; I still don't see why your magic would keep playing up like that. But the fact is if you have the intent of what you want to do then it will happen. The authors of those books were born in our world, so they know witches and wizards tend to form their own words for a spell. It's part of our tradition, its similar to how an artist paints and uses different styles to achieve their work." Mildred had thought about all the times she had seen her teachers and fellow students use magic. Some of them didn't bother saying words or rhymes to the incantations to make a spell work, and she remembered seeing Miss Cackle and Miss Bat use magic without saying a word. Maybe they had said something in their minds before letting their magic do the work? Buoyed by the lecture, Miss Hardbroom placed the candlestick holder directly in front of Mildred, and had leaned in close. "Now, Mildred, I want you to light this using the Craft without saying a word or by using the Old Religion."

Mildred had closed her eyes and focused on the candle. She flicked a hand, thinking _flame,_ and the candle glowed as it was lit. Mildred had smiled at the candle, and from there her studies had improved. While she still used the Old Religion, she found herself using the Craft a little more. Sure, Mildred still had a few problems using it properly, and she felt twinges as her magic adapted, but her skills were improving. Now she spent her practicing time in her bedroom, devoting nights to studying the Craft as well as the Old Religion.

One night she stood over her desk looking into a cup of water. Mildred closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell she wanted to see if she could use. She flicked her hand and clicked her fingers, "Ice," she muttered, visualising a small amount of ice floating in the water because she didn't want the lot to freeze. When she opened her eyes she saw that half of the surface of the water had frozen solid, but there was some water that hadn't frozen. Mildred dipped her finger into the cold water, and realised that half of the water had frozen, more than she'd intended, but it was still a result. Licking her finger, she waved her hand over the cup again. "Melt," she said, picturing in her mind the ice slowly dissolving. This time the spell worked without any side effects. The weeks passed by with nights like that one, and in that time she practiced conjuration - she had to be careful with that one because there could be dangerous side effects - and was able to conjure 5 small and simple things. Well, she only managed to summon one thing that she had wanted, all the rest were failures, but Mildred only learnt and improved on it. Between her sessions with Miss Hardbroom and the times she could practice, Mildred found herself developing in leaps and bounds, though there were hurdles.

* * *

As the weeks rolled by, Mr Rowan-Webb also added his help, but due to the sessions with Miss Hardbroom the two teachers had decided to work together to help so then Mildred wasn't run ragged and exhausted. Mildred appreciated this since the only wizard in the school did know his stuff. Algernon like Miss Hardbroom hinted on how witches and wizards always made spells their own, but through practice and he helped teach her the techniques. They weren't difficult - all she needed to do was much as she had been doing in her room, and she told both of them as much. Neither teacher was surprised when they' heard THAT bit of news, they all knew Mildred tended to practice her magic in her room, but they did caution her, told her never to practice anything dangerous or complex without either one of them in the room with her. Mildred was okay with that - all she wanted was to improve herself as a witch, and after months of struggling she felt she was succeeding.

Mr Rowan-Webb also gave her books on the Wiccan magic, thanks to a friend of a friend. Mildred had taken them, thinking sullenly that she had more work to do, but she practiced with them and she was pleasantly surprised. The Old Religion and the Craft weren't good together, but when she used the Wiccan magic it was similar to how she felt about the Old Religion - that feeling she got of rightness, that it was what she should be using and working with, but it wasn't lessened because she was using a different magic. The Wiccan religion was closer to the old magic than the Craft, and the spells were great for her to learn. Like the Craft, many of the spells were about what you planned them to do rather than dryly write them down like an instruction manual. The magic book her father had given her was a manual in a sense, but it noted down the particulars of the spells, their variations and their powers.

It was during one of the lessons with Miss Hardbroom (Mr Rowan-Webb was too busy preparing for a test the next morning and that day's afternoon to attend) that they discovered something. While Miss Hardbroom couldn't use the magic she and her father possessed, she could measure the power of the spells used and compare them to the ones used by other witches and wizards. Mildred jumped at the chance to learn just how powerful her spells were compared to the Craft - and she ended up being a little disappointed.

She cast a few spells to light the candles Miss Hardbroom had placed in the centre of the room on the floor with the dark haired potions mistress hovering nearby her a glowing blue strip with numbers that made it look laid out like a thermometer with an identical one next to it in green, and another in yellow and Mildred knew it was some type of graph. Miss Hardbroom had been using this graph for some time, comparing the results quietly with Mr Rowan-Webb. Mildred had tried to ask her what it was but the woman had just told her to cast the spells. And so Mildred did, and both sides of the strip glowed green or the blue one glowed a lighter blue as it rose on the graph.

With an inscrutable expression, Miss Hardbroom told her to dowse the flames with both the Craft and the Wiccan religion and the Old Religion. Confused by the expression on her teachers' face, Mildred did as she was told. Picturing one of the candles being extinguished, Mildred concentrated on the Craft, and muttered, "Flame of light, go away, light disappear, come again soon." The flame vanished in a puff. Miss Hardbroom nodded, impressed by the spell Mildred had made up on her own. Mildred moved onto another candle. "Flaming candle, you have lit this room, go and rest now." The flame flickered, but didn't disappear, so Mildred had to repeat it. But the flame didn't disappear. Mildred sagged - she had found this out quickly, while she could cast some spells there were times they didn't work. After two other attempts where the flame flickered only, Miss Hardbroom told her to use the Craft spell again. The teacher wasn't disappointed by the result - the Wiccan religion was too far away from what many witches and wizards could actually do, and while some of the spells were similar to those of the Craft, many of them were too different for practiced witches to use. Miss Hardbroom had seen Mildred cast many spells from that branch of magic, just as she'd seen the girl falter with others, and decided she either needed a teacher or just plain practice.

"Færblæd wawe," Mildred whispered to the final candle, extinguishing it at once.

"I think that will do for now," Miss Hardbroom whispered, and she flicked the still hovering strips showing the graph towards a piece of paper on her desk. The two witches walked over to the desk and studied the graph. It was divided into an axis showing three colours - green, blue, and yellow. Mildred studied the rest of the graph - the bottom line was divided into the dates when the two or three depending on whether Algernon could attend, with the vertical line showing the power level, going by the bar. Mildred had looked at the graph for a few minutes, seeing how the three coloured lines overlapped one another and twisted around themselves like the coils of a snake. Sometimes one of the lines broke off and rose higher than the others but otherwise they stayed together, rising and falling.

Mildred understood that this was a power graph showing just how powerful her spells were, but she didn't know which one was which.

"Which of these are the Craft?" she asked.

"The green one. The blue is the Old Religion and the yellow is Wiccan magic," Miss Hardbroom explained.

Mildred nodded and studied the lines now she knew which one was which but as she studied the lines and how they rose and fell she realised something important. The line representing the Old Religion fluctuated with the others, but she had expected the line to show more a more powerful level. But it didn't though there were obvious blips that rose a little higher than the other lines, but the lines representing the Craft and the Wiccan religion did the same thing.

"I thought the Old Religion would be more powerful," Mildred commented, studying the graph.

"It probably is," Miss Hardbroom was looking at the graph with her typically inscrutable expression. "Or it could be your magic is still trying to cope with using three different forms of magic."

Mildred frowned as she caught something implied in Miss Hardbroom's voice. "You think there might be something else, don't you?"

"Yes. The Craft and the Wiccan magics are both derived from the Old Religion remember. It's possible and likely the magic you began practicing when you received Merlin's book of magic is slightly more powerful than the Craft in some areas, but otherwise when it comes to power there's no real difference."

Miss Hardbroom wasn't really sure if she'd explained her feelings well enough for the younger witch to follow, but the look on Mildred's face told her that it had sunk in. "Miss Hardbroom, when I was studying the book at night and casting spells, there were some that brought out some powerful effects. Do you think that was more for show than actual genuine power?"

Miss Hardbroom had actually watched some of those nightly sessions of study in Mildred's room so she knew what the young girl was telling her. "Possibly. Many spells practiced all over the world regardless of their origin in history look amazing and powerful when actually they don't use that much magical energy from the caster."

Looking at Mildred the potions mistress could see the girl absorbing the reply with a nod. She had to hide her smirk when she saw Mildred try to hide a yawn unsuccessfully. "I think its time you went to bed Mildred, you're beginning to look tired."

Mildred was relieved. That familiar feeling of her magic being tired out was beginning to become unbearable, though it only happened in these sessions because she was practicing three different forms of magic at the same time, but she hadn't told Miss Hardbroom because the teacher already knew. That was one of the reasons why she had made sure the spells cast were basic and didn't seem to need that much power.

"Okay, but what do we do about the next lesson we have? I want to see about practicing some of the more powerful spells and making a graph similar to this one," Mildred pointed carelessly at the graph on the desk. "Compare the results afterward. I want to know which branches of spells are more powerful than others."

Miss Hardbroom nodded in approval over the girl's intelligent idea. "Alright, but I think it would be better for us to take this one step at a time. The next lesson we have we'll move up a level or two, and add more powerful spells as we go."

Mildred liked that idea. Over the next few days, unfortunately the time the two witches could actually spend doing these experiments became limited, but they became more and more fun for Mildred and Miss Hardbroom. Mildred enjoyed the experimental lessons because not only was she improving with her spell repertoire, but her comprehension of magic itself was growing. As she went along learning about the Craft she found that it was easier when you got the hang of it. She still couldn't believe she hadn't bothered to ask anyone about it properly so then those embarrassing moments when she'd either mispronounced or muddled a spell wouldn't have happened.

In her dad's letter he'd claimed her magic was geared for the Old Religion and that the Craft was incompatible with her magic, but now Mildred found that it wasn't true, well not exactly. She could use the Craft but there were still many things she didn't know about it, and it made her wonder if there would be some spells that she couldn't use. Mildred continued to practice her father's brand of magic but she also practiced the Wiccan magic which was the modern day version of the Old Religion, and she quickly came to realise that the graph was right - for all its appearances the Old Religion was no more powerful than the other two, though some of the spells were more powerful or their effects were more…exciting. She had become accustomed to feeling her magic during the casting and she'd felt no more drained than usual.

It was kind of a blow to Mildred that the magic her father used wasn't as powerful as the two other kinds she was now practicing. But as she spent more time working on all three of them, she realised that it was perhaps magic's way of ensuring people didn't push themselves too far, and if they had more power then they could probably burn themselves out. She said as much to a surprised Miss Hardbroom, who agreed with her. While the Old Religion was impressive and impossibly old and while many of its powers were geared for life and death, which was the most powerful gift it could provide, Mildred was beginning to realise that her predecessors had been powerful only because of practice and experience. Beyond that they were not gods. Even her father, who was probably more powerful, had his limits and Mildred was sure he knew it.

With these thoughts in mind and what she had learnt from Miss Hardbroom, Mildred was rapidly working out the three forms of magic all had the same power, they just had different effects. Mildred was a little disappointed at first because she'd imagined the power of Merlin to be….godlike, now she knew he wasn't a god, and that during the time of Camelot during Albion's golden age, there had to have been sorcerers and other warlocks with more or less the same power as him. It was only how he was remembered that Merlin was seen as a god.

Miss Hardbroom had also begun making a larger graph for the pair of them to ponder over. The three lines were actually level with one another, though both noticed that sometimes there would be spikes in the power levels, which were compared to some of the more powerful witches and wizards. It showed that even Mildred had to obey one of magic's laws - that the older a witch, the more powerful they were when she was a child.

Mildred seemed to have a gift with the Wiccan magic, but that was probably because of its similarities with the Old Religion, but like the Craft and its forebear it had limits that shouldn't be pushed too far. But she still was excelling at it; many of the spells were similar to the Craft, so there was familiarity.

But their sessions wasn't all about using magic. Sometimes they would just sit and chat and during those chats they'd debate on magic and potions but otherwise it quickly became a relaxed moment between them both. Miss Hardbroom came to learn more about Mildred by speaking to her about the girl's past - about her friendships, holidays she'd gone on, and her time with her mother. In return Hecate told Mildred more about her time spent with Pippa Pentangle. Mildred already knew the two were friends who had recently made up, so Hecate saw no reason to hide the stories.

The teacher was unsure why she was telling Mildred something like this, and while she hoped the girl didn't blab about her past she knew she wouldn't. It was during that time that Mildred had to ask her something that had been on her mind for a while. "What happened between you two anyway?" At the look on Miss Hardbroom's face Mildred said quickly, cursing herself for overstepping her boundaries and thinking the lessons would become unbearable. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to -" she added hastily.

Mildred needn't have worried. "No, it's fine," Miss Hardbroom whispered before looking down at her lap. "Pippa and I….we were completely different witches when we met at college. She was this glamorous and effortlessly popular girl with a handful of friends, but don't ever let her pretty face fool you, Mildred. Pippa Pentangle is a very powerful and clever witch. She's one of those people who hide their brains behind their looks. We were made roommates. Back them we didn't like that, and then one day I was trying to brew a potion but I couldn't get the recipe right. Pippa came over, and the smell of her perfume nearly made me sick."

Miss Hardbroom gave a small smirking smile in remembrance of the moment. Mildred sat there quietly, listening to her teacher as she spoke. She didn't have any trouble picturing the scene in her mind though it was incomplete.

"Anyway she took one look at the potion I was brewing since the mix was vague after a few steps, and then as if by random she picked a couple of chameleon's tongues and handful of hornet stings and dropped them into the cauldron. There was a puff of smoke, and the potion changed into a colour it shouldn't have been. I was furious with her - she'd ruined a potion I had spent hours working on, and yet she stood nearby with a smile on her face. 'Look into the cauldron,' she said and I did. The potion was exactly as it should be in the book. I couldn't believe it, and then she told me something no other person had said, she told me that as long as we have the basic potion in mind we can add whatever ingredient we wanted if we wanted to make the potion our own. The book recipes are only a guide."

"Did you take her advice?" Mildred shuddered at the thought of Miss Hardbroom's potions being ruined.

"Eventually. You have to bear in mind that all my work was done out of a book. I asked one of my tutors about it when the concept of making potions up drove me mad. That kind of creativity isn't something I was expecting."

"What did the tutor say?"

Miss Hardbroom chuckled. "He confirmed what Pippa had told me. He told me that as long as I had the basic recipe as a base, I can change the potion anyway I can, provided I had a knowledge of what would happen if the ingredients were mixed."

Mildred smiled. "You mean he was saying, be careful, some of them would go boom?"

There was no humour on Miss Hardbroom's face as she replied, "Yes. But I learnt a great deal from that lesson, and now I brew potions that have my own style."

"So what happened between you and Miss Pentangle?" Mildred asked.

Miss Hardbroom's face became, if possible, even more drawn. "Pippa was surrounded by a gaggle of witches who adored her," the teacher said, "they only clamped onto her because of her popularity."

Mildred made a noise in her throat. "I've seen that happen," she said, making Miss Hardbroom look at her curiously, so she explained. "A girl in my year at primary school, she became glamorous over night because her parents suddenly gained good jobs. She went from really shy to obnoxious in just 48 hours. She couldn't walk around for a second without another girl fawning over her, and soon she lapped all the attention up. Anyway, go on," Mildred added, not wanting to tell her teacher what happened there.

"Well, instead of the girl you described, Pippa had this natural winning personality as well as a glamorous appearance," HB said, and Mildred smiled as she remembered the pretty blond haired witch dressed in pink robes that almost glowed with light even in gloomy corridors. "They couldn't understand why she would want to be with me, so they began taunting me about it for a week or two, and eventually I began to see their point. They said Pippa wouldn't want to be with me, so I decided to let her go. It's only now I realise what a fool I was, but then you already knew that, since you tricked us into speaking together." She pinned Mildred with a gaze.

Mildred gave a sheepish smile, remembering how she'd tricked the two into meeting and talking about their problems; she'd never seen the point in holding grudges, not when you could just settle them by talking to each other, and from the sniping she'd witnessed during the time Miss Pentangle visited the school, it was clear the two of them ad unresolved issues that a good talk would solve if they'd been prepared to make the effort. Mildred was glad it worked.

* * *

"What happened?"

Miss Gullet winced when Agatha's voice, identical to Ada Cackle's own voice only it was more menacing and impatient in a way Ada couldn't match, echoed from the mirror. She'd decided to put off calling Agatha via the mirror for a few days, which unfortunately turned into weeks since she was recovering from the pain she'd endured and had been placing spells on her home to prevent the authorities and the Great Wizard from finding her. If they tracked her down she knew what they'd do to her.

She had broken the Witches's code by turning a wizard into a frog and leaving him in that form for 30 years simply to take his job from him because she'd needed it, but that had been topped by the fact she had walked into the school when her repentance period wasn't even over. Even worse she had stabbed a minor. If they caught her then her punishment would be worse than the one Agatha had received.

But she was being punished.

She was going to have to describe her failure to Agatha, even if the older witch had not wanted her to go after Mildred in such a reckless manner in the first place. Unfortunately because of the time spent putting off Agatha and her repetitive calling, the older witch had been getting angrier and angrier, and Miss Gullet was glad she was nowhere near the woman before remembering that Agatha's powers had been removed, but the woman's temper made her fear that magic would be used.

Agatha became angry when she didn't respond quickly to the question. "What happened, Gullet? I've been trying to get through to you for days."

"When I got to the hall, Mildred was leaving it, but there was shattered glass everywhere, and the Great Wizard himself was there," Miss Gullet said.

Agatha groaned and she face palmed her head with a sigh. "Please tell me you didn't actually attack the girl in front of the Great Wizard himself?" she begged. When her associate opened her mouth to respond, Agatha snapped quickly, "Do you have any idea what you could have done, what could have happened to you?"

Still speaking in the same hissing voice that didn't even hint at the rage simmering within her, Agatha went on, "I'd told you to leave the girl alone until we'd come up with a suitable plan for me to get my powers back, the school within my control, and then we would have dealt with Mildred. But no. You had to break into the castle, attack the girl in the middle of the Great Hall in front of witnesses, including the most powerful wizard in the country."

Suddenly Agatha calmed down as she considered the events. While she was angry Miss Gullet had jeopardised her safety when she was needed - if there was one thing Agatha loathed the most, it was having to rely on others, but she had no choice in this case. Miss Gullet was a powerful witch in her own right, granted she was probably not on the same level as Hardbroom, but she was close, and that was enough. But it was the dependency on Gullet that was one of the driving forces behind her hopes and plans to get her powers back.

"Is the girl dead?"

"No. That's the weird thing. Mildred was leaving the hall, I don't know why, but I didn't care at the time. She had guessed I was helping you the last time the Great Wizard was in the school," Miss Gullet said. "Once I got close to her and stabbed her in the chest, she screamed and then something threw me away."

Carefully Miss Gullet talked about what had happened to her in the Great Hall, not leaving anything that she knew out. She described the spells Mildred threw at her, including being picked up by a whirlwind spell and then thrown towards the wall. Agatha listened, but when Miss Gullet commented that Mildred's irises were gold in colour, the older witch didn't know what to think.

All she could think of was the girl she and her…..sister had been acquainted with in school.

They would need to be careful, and come up with a good plan. She had a terrible suspicion her plans may not come to pass the way she'd hoped or intended.

* * *

Hmm, how will Agatha succeed with her end of year takeover attempt? Just wait and find out.

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy sorting out a new Doctor Who story, and its been taking most of my time. Also I would like to say that the reason Mildred's no longer godlike is because I had sense pushed into me by a reviewer, and that review changed some of my beliefs about how powerful magic and various generations of it was, so thank you.


	10. Chapter 10 Midnight musings and talks

Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.

Author's note - Please forgive me for not updating sooner, I was in the middle of writing a few Doctor Who stories and getting three stories together than I hope - touch wood - become epics.

In the meantime, enjoy. Please leave positive feedback, and please do not leave reviews that make it look like you haven't read a single line. Thanks.

 **Midnight musings and talks.**

After the day she'd just had, anyone would have thought Mildred Hubble was asleep - even nascent High Priestesses needed sleep every now and again, but Mildred couldn't sleep. It had been an amazing, terrifying, and surprising day, and the first year knew she should have gone to sleep some time ago, but she couldn't.

One thing was going round and round her mind, something that was truly surprising and terrifying at the same time.

Miss Cackle wasn't the rightful Headmistress according to the birth scroll Mildred had found in the Head's office.

Agatha was.

Mildred knew that she should just be glad she'd returned back to her home time with Ethel after the mists of time had fallen around the school, but Ethel's cat Nightstar had gotten trapped outside, so Mildred went with Ethel to help find the cat. Ethel's jealousy and anger towards Mildred hadn't really cooled ever since the Great Wizard exposed her as the new High Priestess, but while it had taken time the usually haughty girl had allowed her to help find Nightstar.

Meeting Ada and Agatha as kids had been an eye opener for Mildred. All this time, she had thought Agatha was the twin to look out for, the one to be truly worried about, but it wasn't her. It was Ada instead. Ada was the bad witch of the pair. Ada Cackle had been willing to cause problems for everyone, but when Mildred had talked her out of it the wisdom she would have as the future headmistress had won through. But Agatha's greed had cost her when she tried to continue Ada's attempt to steal the twin's power, only rather than Ada stealing Agatha's magic, it would be thrown into reverse.

The really terrifying part about the whole adventure Mildred had had in the past was the thought of Mona Spellbody who would go on to be Maud's grandmother would've been expelled when she shouldn't have been, resulting in a change in Maud's personality.

A drastic change.

Mildred hadn't told Maud about this since Mildred had only caught a fleeting glimpse, but she knew it wasn't good. Mildred had only seen it when she returned to the present time with Nightstar, but it was like watching a TV with a terrible reception. It was a good thing the older Ada had come back into the past to help Mildred return to the present, and convince the younger Ada to change and become a better person than she was then, and reversed Mona's expulsion.

But…it was just…..Watching that version of Maud's attitude, the way she held herself, and the cruel way she treated everyone and spoke to the other students like Enid and Felicity, and the way she gave the teachers problems had worried Mildred, but the one thing that would always stand out in Mildred's mind was the way Maud had said that she, Mildred, didn't have any friends.

Mildred pushed that aside, and focused on the news Agatha should be headmistress and not Ada. She still wasn't sure what kind of events would lead to their mother, Ada's predecessor as the Headmistress make that decision, but she knew one thing. While Agatha might be the technical headmistress, she wasn't the headmistress, and it had nothing to do with the fact she had had her powers taken away from her. Agatha didn't care for the students, and since Mildred and everybody knew now Agatha was working with Miss Gullet to undermine the school and its workings, they also knew they were willing for a student, or students, to die in order to get their revenge.

Mildred made a face as she thought about how the Great Wizard had been summoned to the school via that letter, and she had helped unwittingly with Agatha and Miss Gullet's plan to destroy Ada's life without the other twin being aware of it. The idea that a woman like that, someone so twisted and self obsessed, being the Headmistress at the school was enough to make her sick.

Mildred had been aware of magic long enough to know that family was important, and she knew it was the eldest who inherited the family legacy. That was the biggest reason for why Ethel Hallow was so jealous of her sister, though Esme tried very very hard to discourage others from doing it. She knew as well that if Nightstar had never been outside, that Ethel and her had never gone looking for that cat, then they would never have travelled back into Miss Cackle's past.

What would have happened then? Would they have come up with that plan to take the other's magic, and would the wrong twin be expelled and placed in a Witches school whose reputation was unpleasant? Mildred shuddered at the thought of having to fight Ada Cackle, an Ada Cackle twisted as much as her twin, utterly convinced by her right to run the Academy that she believed she was justified into making those plans with a teacher as crooked and as nasty as Miss Gullet simply because she saw the school as her property.

Would Ada have become like that, in some different reality if things had gone very differently? Mildred wasn't sure; she didn't know enough about time travel to know any different. But she could imagine the what ifs to build up a picture thanks to seeing what kind of changes Mona Spellbody went through to filter their way down to Maud, and it wasn't pretty.

Picturing Ada in Agatha's place made her sick, and she wondered if Ada hadn't already imagined it herself. Mildred yawned and decided to try to get some sleep. The exams were soon upon the students, and everyone needed to be rested in order to work.

But before she could fall asleep, she heard another yawn.

Mildred sat bolt upright. "Whose there?" she asked, her mind running through a collection of dangerous Old Religion spells.

"Oh, I am sorry Mildred, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Miss Cackle?" Mildred sighed as she waved her hand over the light, and just as the room lit up. Miss Cackle materialised wearing a long robe with her hair in a sleeping cap just as the light in the room came up.

"What's wrong?" Mildred asked as she tried to blink in the sudden brightness of her bedroom. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep, and so I decided to walk through the school, invisible and unseen. Anything for a bit of peace and quiet," Miss Cackle said, wistfully smiling at the thought.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?"

Miss Cackle chuckled at the logical question. "I was lost in thought, Mildred dear," she replied. "I didn't even realise where I was until I was until I yawned and heard your voice."

That was plausible but Mildred wasn't stopped from making a mental note to research spells and enchantments to stop the teachers from passing willy-nilly into her bedroom where anything could happen. Good god, above if people from the normal world found out about the ability pass through solid doors and walls, yet remaining completely invisible.

But she did trust the teachers, but she didn't like it when they used their power to just walk as merrily as they pleased into the rooms of the students. The implications weren't nice to think about.

"You're thinking about what happened, aren't you?" Mildred asked rhetorically, but Miss Cackle looked a little surprised by the question, but then sighed and answered it. "Yes."

The simple reply worried Mildred, but before she could speak Miss Cackle went on.

"I always felt guilty Agatha was passed over, that she was expelled from the Academy," she said, "but the Agatha that you know was nothing like that when she was your age. Yes, we were sometimes arrogant because we were Cackles, that we were going to run the school after our mother retired from the post of Headmistress. But the young girl she was is nothing like the cruel, arrogant, conceited and vindictive woman she is now."

"What's going to happen about the birth scroll?" Mildred asked when it looked like Miss Cackle's mood was going to plummet. She didn't want that, not only because she didn't deserve this misery that her mother's secrets had caused, but also because she didn't want the poor headmistress to continue wandering about the school until morning like this.

"Nothing," the question seemed to galvanise Miss Cackle. "I can't show it to anyone. I can't even trust Hecate with this news, because she would be honour bound by the code to inform the Great Wizard. I wouldn't blame her if that happened, but I wouldn't just be kicked out of my post, but I would be arrested and imprisoned as well."

Miss Cackle looked at Mildred seriously. "Please, Mildred, you mustn't tell anyone about this," she whispered seriously.

Mildred looked indignant, and suddenly Ada felt the sheer magical presence of the High Priestess who was only coming into her own gazing back at her, and Mildred's eyes changed from brown to pure gold as they flushed with magical power. "Miss Cackle," the girl said seriously. "I don't want Agatha to come within a foot of your job. The woman tried to manipulate the situation to see me dead, she also has a lackey who stabbed me in front of witnesses. Why would I tell anyone about this?"

Ada winced.

* * *

Sorry, I know its short, but I hope the next one will be longer.


	11. Chapter 11 Mildred's Mistake

Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.

Feedback. Definitely will be appreciated.

Mildred's mistake.

"I'm disappointed in you, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said and Mildred could indeed feel the disappointment radiating off the dark potions mistress in waves. Mildred had been taught in private by Miss Hardbroom long enough for the girl to get a feel of the woman's emotions, and she could definitely feel the disappointment coming off in waves, so that description wasn't an exaggeration.

Mildred didn't say a word - the woman wasn't going to let her get away with answering back - so why bother? She was cursing Ethel for putting her into his mess anyway. Ever since Ethel and her had found themselves in the past, changing bits of history willy-nilly before they restored the past to how it had been before, the blond girl had returned to how she'd been before they'd travelled back in time, but there was something more.

Ethel was curious about what she had found in Mrs Cackle's office, but she had no idea it was the birth scroll which Ada and Agatha's mother had kept secret.

Mildred had every intention of keeping what she'd found out a secret, knowing all too well Agatha wasn't Headmistress material, but unfortunately Ethel had noticed Mildred taking the scroll out of the cupboard in the office when she'd been trying to find a way to return them both home. The girl was curious, but unlike other girls who would be subtle and gently probing Ethel had the subtlety of a blindfolded elephant stampeding through a forest.

But still, despite how things had turned out in the office afterwards Mildred was pleased Ethel had believed the lie she'd told about being Miss Cackle's niece. It had been a spur of the moment lie of course, but Mildred had been annoyed at the time; being confronted by Maud's features, but Ethel's personality, and only realising what the blond had done in order to find out whatever secret she was keeping….Ethel had used magic to take on Maud's appearance in order to find out the truth, but even with Maud Mildred knew she couldn't say a word. She had learnt very quickly that in this world of magic, the Witches code was something everyone lived by to some level, and Maud was a goody goody by nature; she'd probably feel she'd have no choice but to tell someone. And after that mess with the forgetting powder, Mildred had begun thinking that Maud was in some ways ashamed by the very notion of having friends, although she knew that wasn't true.

Mildred did trust her, but she had secrets to hold like everybody else. The knowledge of her real father was one of them, though both Maud and Enid knew about that one, but the knowledge she was gaining about the Old Religion - well, everyone knew about that, thanks to the Great Wizard's big mouth, and now she was having to deal with the unwanted secret of Miss Cackle, and after hearing the woman's talk of being imprisoned simply because she had taken her sister's place had told her how serious this mess was.

After 'Maud' had leaned closer and Tabby had scratched her, something that usually wasn't part of the gentle cat's personality, the girl had left with the warning their friendship would be over if there were still secrets between them, and then she'd left and even snapped at Enid, who was coming in. Mildred was still angry Ethel would be so intrusive when they were supposed to be revising for their end of year exams.

Didn't she have anything better to do with her time? Ethel constantly preached about being better than everyone else, so why couldn't she practice what she preached? If Ethel wanted to be seen as the other Hallow girl next to Esmerelda, she was going the right way about it without putting in any actual effort into her studies, though whether it worked or not would be down to the elder Hallows who lauded Esmerelda's triumphs and ignored Ethel's own talents. It wasn't fair, but it was the truth.

But she and Enid had decided to play a little game with the girl, and so Mildred had come up with the lie of being Miss Cackle's niece, even spinning the tale that she pretended to be hopeless so then no body would be any the wiser. Mildred had no idea the idea would blow up in her face the way it did.

What was it with her, anyway?

What did Ethel do with the knowledge? Ethel tried to brew a potion she claimed was to form a friendship, but Mildred had had her doubts, and it ended up with the pair of them on the ground. In the end she and Ethel were taken to Miss Cackle's office, along with the cauldron the potion was in, and from there Ethel revealed the lie. Mildred's heart had shrunk, unable to believe the stupid girl would even open the door for her own misuse of magic to be revealed. Miss Cackle's disappointment in Mildred would stay with the girl for a long time, how she'd thought she could count on Mildred for being truthful.

And then there was how Miss Cackle had followed Mildred's own train of thought about not thinking by agreeing with her. Miss Cackle had confined both her and Ethel to their rooms in all free periods.

And now Miss Hardbroom was disappointed with her.

Lessons with the deputy headmistress had become sporadic recently with the end of year exams looming higher, and since Mildred wanted to concentrate on the exams and practice the Old Religion magic as well, she'd accepted the decision. She might be 11 years behind the other girls in her year but she knew how to revise for tests, Maud's displeasure aside.

Mildred sagged at the thought of her best friend. Maud had been prepared to put aside her own time to help her, and what had she done? Gone to Miss Cackle - why hadn't she told the older woman she needed to be quick?

Miss Hardbroom was disappointed that she had lied like that, especially after all the time they'd spent talking and working with one another to try to build up Mildred's magical knowledge and spell repertoire.

Mildred wondered if she should tell Miss Hardbroom about her suspicions that Miss Cackle had been kidnapped by Agatha again, but decided against it; Miss Hardbroom was probably not in the mood for something like that, especially since she didn't have any proof to back up her suspicion, and with the spells she'd cast around the school, and the warning she'd given earlier in potions about the Great Wizard's arrival the next day, as well as the threat that if anyone in the school left the grounds without permission would be expelled had probably not helped Miss Hardbroom's mood.

"I know," Mildred replied quietly as she stroked the purring Tabby who was lapping the attention up.

Miss Hardbroom sighed and sat down on the bed, reaching out a hand to stroke Tabby as well, and the cat ambled over to her to say hello. "Mildred, what is going on? Ethel was pretending to be Maud, you concocting that ridiculous lie. What made you even say it?"

Mildred looked up, letting the teacher see the soon to be High Priestess and not the supposed Worst Witch for the first time in days. "When someone who has made your life hard for 10 months of the year uses magic to masquerade as your best friend, resorting to threats to break off the friendship as a way of blackmailing you into telling her your secrets, wouldn't you lie to get that person off your back?" Mildred asked without letting it slip Enid was the one to suggest playing with Ethel. She was in enough trouble as it was, she didn't want her friends to be in trouble.

Miss Hardbroom looked at her confused. "I thought you and your friends had passed that point after the Great Wizard revealed-"

"Oh yeah, the Great Wizard," Mildred interrupted, getting off the bed and pacing around the room, not even bothering to care that by speaking of the Great Wizard in such a manner she could be making things worse, "we did. But there are some things Merlin told me that I wasn't to talk about to anyone, not you. Not if I can help it." Mildred sighed as her sudden anger was let out. "I am carrying secrets, Miss Hardbroom," she whispered, not bothering to elaborate and tell the teacher she had told Enid and Maud in confidence. "Secrets that could cause all kinds of terrible harm if I let them slip out. One of them is something I never expected, something that haunted me for weeks. It's a private matter between me and Merlin, and has nothing to do with this school, so please don't ask."

Despite being annoyed by her attitude concerning his honour, the Great Wizard, Miss Hardbroom wondered what kind of secret would make Mildred so serious and determined to keep it hidden to this extent, and by judging Mildred's stiff posture she realised the girl was unlikely to just talk about it. She also imagined the same thing was the same with whatever was between Ada and Mildred. Hecate decided she wasn't going to bother asking Ada what was happening there, if Mildred was not going to speak about her secrets, why should she waste her time with Ada? It just upset the older witch that her friend and her student didn't seem to trust either of them with their secrets.

* * *

A few hours later Mildred was flying over the woods towards Darkwood cottage where Agatha, or Ada, was supposed to be imprisoned. It hadn't been difficult leaving the school, but she was burning with anger and annoyance that Maud seemed to have a lack of faith in her. True, she wasn't sure if Ada was in the cottage and Agatha had changed places for a second time, but she was only going to find out for sure for her own piece of mind.

But Maud had only done what Ethel had done, emotionally blackmailed her into staying at the school and wait for the Great Wizard to clean up the mess.

It was just too bad Mildred didn't have that much faith in the old wizard to deal with the mess; 9 times out of 10 dealing with Agatha fell to HER either by chance or by design!

It was frustrating!

Mildred hadn't bothered telling Maud that, not when the other girl was giving her ultimatums. She had the plan already in mind; she'd used the Old Religion to get past the spells Miss Hardbroom had cast on the school, and when she'd found out the truth then she'd return much the same way. Hopefully she'd return without anyone being any the wiser. The only problem would be getting past the gate, but she was confident she could get inside without being seen.

Mildred only hoped this trip would be brief.

Flying over the dense forest - Mildred was worried that the more twisted Cackle twin was even imprisoned so close to the school, and wondered if it was meant to be a message to the woman - she kept an eye out for the cottage. When she saw the break in the forest canopy she went into a gentle dive, never noticing the small black bat flapping around her.

Mildred studied the cottage. It looked beautiful but there was something dilapidated about it but it would've been charming in its own way if she didn't know already what was inside it and what should be inside it, and she bit her lip as she jumped off her broom and looked around the area to see if anyone else was nearby, remembering that Miss Gullet and Agatha had become allies though she didn't know how far back that went, not noticing the face in the window looking out. Walking through the overgrown greenery, Mildred brushed some of the brambles out of her face as she headed for the door.

Mildred leaned the broom against the wall and knocked on the door hesitantly. "Miss Cackle?" she said clearly but quietly, hoping she wasn't making a big mistake.

A familiar voice came from the inside of the cottage muffled by the wood of the door. "Come in, dear."

It was either Miss Cackle or Agatha Cackle; Mildred had met dozens of people who had twins, and the identical voices and faces always threw her off - she might have told Maud she was certain the twin in the cottage was Ada, but Mildred wanted to be sure in case she made a reckless mistake.

Mildred took a breath and opened the door. The inside of the cottage was dark, with the only sources of light being a number of lighted candles. She walked inside and found a huddled figure in a black cloak.

"Miss Cackle?" she said; until she was sure which one it was, she'd call her Miss Cackle. It didn't really matter to her since both of them were unmarried, as far as she knew, and they were both sisters.

"Mildred Hubble, is that you? I can't see you without my glasses," the woman said, gesturing for her to come closer and to sit down opposite.

Mildred sat down in the chair, deciding to play along for now until she was sure this was either Ada or Agatha. "It's me, Miss Cackle," she said though she regretted it afterwards since both twin sisters knew her, knew the sound of her voice.

"My dear child, you've found me." Miss Cackle said with her eyes tearing with gratitude.

Mildred was wondering now whether her suspicions were right, but she continued to play the game and decided to see how far it went. "I knew it, Agatha's taken control of the Academy, but everyone thinks she's you, and she's got her powers back."

"I know," Miss Cackle interrupted grimly, looking down with a grimace. "She took mine, Mildred. She tricked me and imprisoned me here."

"Can't you get them back?" Mildred asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, but it would involve a great sacrifice," Miss Cackle said, suddenly looking at Mildred with a hint of regret in her eyes. Mildred wanted to lean closer to see if that regret was genuine or faked, but she couldn't risk it. She still wasn't sure which Cackle twin she was sitting opposite.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her mind still focused on wondering which twin this was.

What the woman said next started the jungle drums and alarm bells in Mildred's mind.

"I know you, Mildred. I know you'd do anything to help your friends," Miss Cackle said.

The penny dropped in Mildred's mind. "You want me to give you my powers?" Mildred clarified, knowing something was terribly wrong.

"I am so sorry, dear, but it's the only way. But it must be of your own free will."

Mildred had no intention of handing her powers over to anyone, not even to her headmistress since her powers came partly from Merlin himself, but she had no idea how her father would have acted in this case. She knew he'd been born with magic and had used it his whole life, so losing his powers would probably have caused him a lot of grief.

Mildred was silent for a moment, wondering if she'd made a mistake by being too clever, and decided she needed to find out how this played. "What do I need to do?"

The smile on Miss Cackle's face worried Mildred, though she didn't let it show. Miss Cackle stood up, gesturing for Mildred to do the same, and said, "Take my hand. Repeat after me,"she instructed after Mildred had taken her hand, "I, Mildred Hubble…"

"I, Mildred Hubble," Mildred repeated, the feeling of worry growing. She now had a good idea who this woman was. Come on, she thought, slip up.

"Freely gift my witches' powers…."

"Freely gift my witches' powers…"

"To the one with whom I stand."

Mildred decided to change the wording, otherwise she really would find herself tricked into giving her powers over. "To Ada Cackle," she said, waiting to see if the woman would react….

And she did.

Something like anger appeared in the woman's face and she realised she had her answer, and Mildred kicked herself. She knew now what had worried her.

Miss Cackle would never allow her students to give their magic up for her when there were other solutions. Not even if it meant she would be powerless forever.

But Agatha would. She didn't care if a little girl was hurt if it meant getting what she wanted.

"No, dear, you must say it exactly as I did," the woman said, sounding like an annoyed teacher or parent and yet managing to keep that smile up which amazed Mildred. Must be a Cackle's trait.

"Why?" Mildred asked.

The woman's impatience was beginning to show. "It's a very high level magic thing, you wouldn't understand," she smiled patronisingly.

Mildred felt like killing herself for being so incredibly stupid and arrogant in coming here. Still at least she could stop this from getting worse than it already was. Mildred's eyes flashed gold and Agatha was sent flying into the wall. "I do, you're Agatha," she snapped as the woman tried crawling back to her feet, but Mildred turned and ran from the room and out of the front door.

She had her answer now. Miss Cackle, the one still at the school, was still Ada. But Mildred had thought it might be Agatha because of the stress the woman was under, but while it had occurred to her to keep her head down and not do anything, Mildred was getting tired of being the one to clear up the mess because Agatha was unable to move on with her life.

Mildred threw the door open, hand already outstretched to take her broomstick back - only for her hand to close around an empty space. Her broomstick was gone. Mildred closed her eyes, cursing herself for not taking the broomstick with her inside the house, but she'd just wanted to get this over and done with quickly.

She had to get away from this place and back to the school - without the broom she was practically stranded, and as she didn't know any transportation magic from either the modern day magic or from the Old Religion, she was trapped out here, and it wouldn't take long for Maud or Miss Hardbroom to realise she was gone.

Mildred hurried through bramble and leaves and branches as she tried to put some distance between herself and the cottage - Agatha might not have her magic, but if she was right about who'd taken the broomstick then it was best to get as far away as possible -

Just as she was nearing a large tree, Mildred cried out when she was taken by surprise by a spell that knocked her to the ground, really hard. "Ow!" she gasped in pain.

A familiar, grating voice asked, "Looking for this?"

Mildred looked up. "Oh no, you again!" she groaned at the sight of the woman standing there, no longer hiding behind the tree.

Miss Gullet was standing in front of her, wearing the long traditional robe and hat of an adult witch. "That's not a very nice way to say hello to an old friend now, is it Mildred?" she sneered.

"We're not friends, you stabbed me, remember," Mildred snapped and stood up, eyes flashing golden. "And now you're back with Agatha. Give my broom back."

"What, this?" Miss Gullet mocked, holding up the broomstick and sneered, "tut, tut, no working safety spells, no cat. And now this," she grimaced as she held the broom up and showed off the red band that held the two pieces of the broken broomstick together. "What a shambles. It's completely unsafe." Miss Gullet had a sickly smile as she held the broom out flat and wand her free hand over it slowly, causing it to be down into dust.

"No."

"Gullet!" Agatha's voice came from behind Mildred, and she turned and saw the older woman standing ten feet away. "Grab her!"

Gullet went for Mildred, who quickly turned and ran as far as she could through the thick greenery, the sounds of the former teacher crashing behind her.

Mildred's mind raced as she reached a split second decision. It was her own arrogance and stupidity that had gotten her into this mess, now she'd have to get herself out of it and back to the school, somehow. An idea had just entered her mind and for it to work she needed the two women together, but if she could then it would make her feel better for coming out here.

"Help! Somebody-" Mildred called out to make it look good though she didn't know what they knew about her, but paused with a gasp when she saw Agatha's black cloaked figure only inches away. The woman had sneaked ahead of her to catch her.

"Witches don't beg for help," Agatha sneered as she and Miss Gullet stood side by side, the former grinning maliciously under the brim of her black hat. "Witches help themselves, but then you're not a witch."

Mildred laughed. "This from the woman who can't grow up, learn to accept she's not in control of a magical school? Who lost her powers because she tried to take a school and lost? At least I have my powers, you're reliant on a has been teacher who rants about health and safety until she's blue in the face and is such a bore I'm surprised none of her students took their beds into the classroom every morning."

Mildred didn't let either Miss Gullet or Agatha do anything more than look angry when she blasted them both off their feet and sent them flying against the bushes, though Miss Gullet was more unluckier - she was sent against a tree.

Mildred raised her hand, and walked over to the prone form of Agatha; the older woman was struggling to get up, but she stopped when she saw the gold eyes in Mildred's face.

"I don't know what you've got planned," the girl hissed, "but I have had enough of you, the pair of you," she added with a glare at Miss Gullet, who was groaning as she tried picking herself up after being sent into the tree. The two witches leaned back as they felt the shear power leaking off Mildred.

Meanwhile the girl looked down at the pair of them, knowing that despite them being terrified of her and what she'd just done, they wouldn't listen. They were too stubborn for that. "Stay away from the school," she added before she left them, beginning the long walk back to Cackles.

Agatha glared with pure loathing at the retreating back of the girl. Ever since she'd learnt that Mildred had magical powers beyond the abilities of many other witches and wizards, she had wanted it all for herself, but the little brat had slipped the net. How had she seen through the disguise so effectively? When she and Ada had been children, they had played games with their friends at school, and the only one who could really identify them was their mother. How had Mildred done it?

No matter, she dismissed the problem and focused on getting up. Despite the clear and obvious threat in Mildred's voice and those golden eyes, Agatha had no intention of losing another opportunity to take back what was rightfully hers, and the return of her powers was just as important as Cackles. Stealing Mildred's powers - though donation was the more technical term - would have been the icing on the cake, and besides what could a powerless Mildred Hubble achieve?

"Bats," she groaned as she got up; she was getting too old for this. "I feel as my my bones have broken."

"Your bones are broken?" Gullet snapped, picking herself off the ground and wincing with each movement. "You weren't slammed into a tree." Gullet sighed, "What now?"

"We'll deal with her later, that is if she manages to get out of the woods. But for now we've bigger cauldrons to boil; we might not be able to take her on with her powers, but we might come up with a way to deal with her regardless. Its time I got my powers back."

"I've already told you," Gullet hissed, "we'll do anything we can to get our revenge, won't we Flappy?" she called up to the fluttering black bat. "Except for that." She said to Agatha.

Agatha sighed mentally, cursing Gullet's paranoia. She had asked Gullet for her magic which would've done well to help her free herself from the imprisonment spells Ada and the Great Wizard had cast on her when she'd been incarcerated at the cottage, but Gullet refused though Agatha couldn't blame her. So they had decided to steal the powers of another witch. Mildred Hubble would've been the perfect victim. The girl was so gullible it wasn't funny, but it was clear they'd both underestimated her.

The decision to somehow manipulate Mildred into freely giving her powers over had come about when Gullet had stupidly stabbed her, and the girl had managed to recover, and used ancient magic to subdue the former teacher. The thought of having such power under her control and the ownership of Cackle's Academy had been too great to resist for Agatha.

Now she would need the power of another witch.

"I know," she said to placate Gullet; really the woman was sometimes so insistent. "You granted me my freedom, and that's more than enough." A sly look came into her eyes, "But don't forget, Mildred's not the only gullible child in the Academy."

Gullet snickered.

* * *

The end of year examinations were always hard for Miss Hardbroom since it meant having to test and retest the girls. But this year would be something that made her yearn for a particularly difficult and strenuous previous year with difficult years, and Hecate had had dozens of them over the years she had spent as a teacher.

Agatha was now the Headmistress of the school.

Ada was now imprisoned in the portrait of the twins, and Agatha was actively lying about her sister running away.

But the worst of it was Agatha had the birth scroll which proved she was the eldest sister, but Hecate knew for certain Ada would never willingly disobey the Witches' code. Hecate thought back over the last few days, ever since that business with the Mists of Time when she had gone back in time to save Mildred and Ethel, Ada seemed nervous and worried.

Now she knew why, but Hecate was hurt, but not particularly surprised by her old friend and colleagues secrecy since Ada knew how seriously she took the code, but in this case she wouldn't have obeyed it. Or would she? Hecate had no real idea for sure what her reaction would've been if Ada had confided in her.

And then Hecate realised something critical.

Mildred must have known as well. All that talk about secrecy, why Ada had said to Mildred after Ethel had tried using that potion on her which she claimed was a simple friendship potion to make peace between them and end the ridiculous feud between them, though Hecate knew that in Mildred's mind the feud was one sided, since Mildred only looked at Ethel with pity, not anger….. yes, it did make sense. But how had the girl found out about the scroll?

It must have been during that trip to the past, but how had she found it? Birth scrolls weren't something that should be left lying around. Hecate shook her head, and headed as quickly own the corridors as she could - Agatha and Gullet had arranged an assembly, and she needed to find Mildred and get her away from the school because there was no telling what the two twisted individuals who were now in control would do to her.

She was just turning the corridor when she saw the chubby form of Maud Spellbody. The girl turned and saw her, her eyes wide. "Miss Hardbroom," she said. "Mildred's gone."

"Gone?" Panic gripped Hecate's heart - had Gullet and Agatha done something to the girl already? But Maud's face told a totally different story.

"She's gone to Agatha's cottage," she said, sounding both annoyed and worried. "Mildred got the idea in her head Miss Cackle was Agatha, and that Agatha had kidnapped Miss Cackle again, but she had no proof so she decided to find out for herself."

Hecate closed her eyes. "That girl," she hissed out in worry, but then she opened them. "Wait a moment, Agatha has taken Esmerelda's powers, not Mildred's, so where is she?"

* * *

The next morning Mildred was exhausted. She'd had a very long night, trying to find her way back through the woods. When she had found out her broomstick was missing, she had left the cottage in the rough direction she'd come. There was nothing else she could do if she wanted to get back to the Academy. So, cursing herself all the time for not taking the broom with her inside the cottage, she made her way through the woods. But night had fallen which made it harder for her to find her way out and get directions back to the castle, and Mildred's residual fear of the dark had not helped matters but she'd created a light ball with her hand. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the woods were so dense and the the trees had let so little light through that Mildred had tripped more than once even with the light ball.

She was more than delighted and thankful when dawn broke. Mildred was tired, she had been up all night trying to pick her way through the woods, trying to keep to the rough direction of the castle, but she had gotten herself lost a few times, which was one of the reasons why it had taken her hours to get through the woods, and she had wished she'd bothered to find a spell in the grimoire her father had gifted her that could help her find the right direction.

It was a relief to find herself outside Cackles. So, bedraggled and exhausted, Mildred walked towards the gates, mentally preparing herself for summoning the magic needed to get herself into the school without being detected, and get herself cleaned up before someone saw her. To her horror the gates opened, but her horror vanished when she saw Maud on the other side.

"Maud," Mildred smiled, but her friend's cool, annoyed manner was off putting.

"Mildred," Maud said, her expression not changing.

Mildred sighed internally. This was going to be tricky. "You were right and I was wrong, please don't be mad with me," Mildred pleaded.

If she thought Maud was going to be reasonable, she was wrong. Maud turned her head and called out in a sing song voice, "Miss Hardbroom."

"Maud!" Mildred stepped back in horror, remembering Miss Hardbroom's threat if anyone in the school was found outside without permission they'd be expelled.

Miss Hardbroom appeared, and she looked coldly angry. "Did you leave the school grounds without permission?" she snapped.

Mildred took another step back, her mind going back to all the programs she had seen over the years of a courtroom - Miss Hardbroom should have been a judge, she had the attitude of one about to pass the verdict.

"She did, Miss Hardbroom," Maud answered, folding her arms and looking at Mildred without expression.

"I'm sorry I was wrong-"

"My instructions were clear, Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said, her eyes cold. "I am truly disappointed with you. I told you the punishment if any girl were found out of bounds yesterday, and I shall send you home with immediate effect."

"Maud!" Mildred cried, but it was too late. Miss Hardbroom had sent her home.

Maud deflated and Miss Hardbroom gently but awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. "We had to do it, Maud," she said, her facade of cold anger gone, "if she'd stayed she'd be targeted by Agatha."

"I know." Maud looked down at the ground guiltily.


	12. Chapter 12 Telling the Truth

Telling the truth.

Maud Spellbody hurried towards the mirror room, constantly looking over her shoulders - she'd gotten Enid, the only friend she had left of the trio that had had Mildred, and still would if they could find a way to deal with Agatha Cackle, to see if she could distract Agatha and Miss Gullet from finding out about her heading to the mirror room so she could contact Mildred, but that didn't mean one of them could simply leave to patrol the rest of the school. Maud didn't care about that, though she knew if they found her here, they would punish her, but it would be worth it if she could speak to Mildred.

She needed to get in touch with her, explain to her what had happened. Hopefully Mildred would have figured it out by now, and hopefully she would have begun working on a plan to get rid of Agatha. It wasn't fair, she reflected, that a girl, a fellow student, would have to be the one to stop Agatha when others should have done it. Maud understood Mildred's stance on the matter, she really did, but what she didn't like was Mildred being so reckless. But Maud wanted to hear things from her, like why the hell she'd left the school in the first place and what she'd found out. Mildred had left the school on her broomstick, and she hadn't had it when she'd gotten back to the castle, so what had happened?

How had things become such a mess? Only two days ago, Maud had been worried about the end of year exams, Mildred had been worried about them as well, but then she was frightened Agatha would come back. Maybe Mildred was right to be worried, and as frustrating as Mildred could be for Maud, she did know her friend had a good point - if Agatha took over then life would become a living hell for everyone; anyone who resorted to potions that bent the mind, and causing girls to nearly plummet to their deaths weren't the best choices for a headmistress.

But Maud couldn't get that part out of her head, that part where Agatha was the elder sister and not Ada. How had that happened? Why would Miss Cackle lie so blatantly to everyone? Did the woman who seemed so caring and kind to everyone in the school, and gave second chances to everyone, hide something inside her, a greedy individual who didn't care about the Witches' code? If so then Maud would be really disappointed since Miss Cackle was someone she respected, but if Agatha was telling the truth, and Maud had no reason to trust her after everything that had happened during the past year, then Ada Cackle was as much a liar as her twin. Agatha was just more honest about her stance. It was obvious to Maud that Agatha had only recently found out the truth about the birth order, otherwise she would have been the headmistress long ago and Ada would have been forgotten long ago herself in a prison cell, or else she would have found proof to back up her claims long ago to run the academy. And as an experienced witch herself, Agatha would know where to look for that proof.

Like all young witches Maud knew the Witches code only too well, so did Enid; it was one of those things every witch grew up with. The rules on inheritance were very clear, it was a rule that had existed for centuries, and had never been changed - rules and laws were changed everyday, and there were parts of the Witches' code that had been reworded and expanded as the centuries had passed as the Great Wizards made adjustments they believed to be appropriate, but that had never been altered. The eldest was the one who inherited the family legacy, it had always seemed like a necessary evil. That was the reason why Ethel Hallow was such a bitch towards Esme, but for many people it wasn't anything to worry about because it made no real difference to them since they could make their own lives, form their own careers.

It was only witches who wanted more out of life that made a big deal out of it, but they could not hope to change the code, not without bringing the Great Wizard down on them. As the custodian of the code, the Great Wizard had to protect it, but he could also rewrite the code. Maud knew it would never happen, and for an only child like herself it wasn't a big deal, and besides she had gathered enough about the Hallow family to know Ethel didn't feel loved. When Maud had kids of her own, she swore she wouldn't make the same mistakes as the Hallows and have another Ethel Hallow running around.

Maud wondered if Miss Cackle had truly lied, she did not seem like the type to ruin her sister's life, but she didn't know the ins and outs of her headmistress's life and personality to know for sure. What made it more incriminating was Agatha and Miss Gullet's tale of how Miss Cackle had simply run away as soon as they became aware of the truth of the birth order.

Right now that wasn't important.

She had to speak to Mildred. She couldn't bear the thought of not setting the record straight with her best friend. Maud didn't want to think that Mildred would not want to speak to her after she'd practically brought HB down on her, but it was for Mildred's safety. There was really no telling what Agatha would've done to her if she hadn't; Mildred might have the Old Religion on her side, but was Mildred really powerful enough to fight two experienced witches off?

The mirror room door was closed, roped off with a sign reading OUT OF ORDER, a blatant lie of Agatha's to stop anyone contacting their families and their contacts. Maud spared it only a thought as she unhooked one end of it so she could pass, wryly realising just how much Mildred had rubbed off on her since in the past she'd never have had the broomstick to go past a sign like this, doubting that Agatha would be incredibly stupid to keep all the students in the school locked up, she was mad but not stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Great Wizard. But then since Maud had no idea what Agatha was trying to achieve in the future, she couldn't exactly tell what would happen later on.

Keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the corridor as her hand rummaged around in her pocket to take out the card with Julie Hubble's mirror number on it, Maud opened the door, wincing as it creaked on its hinges, and quickly closed it. She didn't know how long she had before either Gullet or Agatha came along this way, and she cursed herself for not re-fixing the sign so they wouldn't be suspicious, but it was too late now.

Maud flashed the card against the mirror and sat down in the chair.

It took a minute for the image on the mirror to coalesce into a dreamy, ghostly image of Mildred before it cleared up showing her and her mother Julie in their small flat's kitchen. It looked like Mildred was drying the dishes her mother was handing over to her. Maud hid a smile at the sight of her friend, she might have Enid still, but it was good to see her other best friend dressed in that simple shirt with a blue 74 stamped on it and that yellow hoodie.

"Please pick up, Millie," Maud pleaded. "Please."

Mildred looked up from her work, noticing her, and Maud had to fight the urge to grin that Mildred had noticed her at last. "Please," she said again, studying Mildred's face, hoping to see a smile on her face, hoping to see forgiveness on her face for bringing HB to the gate, betraying her, getting her expelled.

But Mildred didn't look happy to see her, in fact there was little expression on her face at all. Maud noticed that Julie had noticed her as well, but was looking at her daughter, wondering what she was going to do; Maud hoped that Julie had softened Mildred's probable upset enough for her friend to want to talk to her, but what Mildred did next shot that hope down in flames.

Mildred raised her hand, and Maud had felt as if her insides were turning to ice, recognising the hand gesture for what it was at once since she'd used it herself once or twice, and flicked it. "Vanished be," she whispered.

Maud almost broke down sobbing when the call connection collapsed.

* * *

In her flat Mildred felt torn - while it felt good to let Maud know just how badly she'd pushed her (Mildred), it wasn't her way to cause people hurt. But she could not get out of her mind the feeling of hurt and surprise that Maud would summon HB like that, especially after seeing for herself the kind of outcome that could've come out of that mess with the forgetting powder. Mildred sighed and pushed that out of her mind and focused on drying the washing.

After she'd finished drying the bowl she'd been drying when she'd noticed Maud's face in the window, Mildred turned around and took her plate her mother handed to her.

"Why don't you just talk to her?" Julie asked.

"She got me expelled," Mildred whispered in reply. There was nothing else to say in her mind, and it did upset her. The problem was she didn't feel angry about it, not like she had when the Great Wizard opened his big fat gob in the hall and revealed her study of the Old Religion and doubled up on the pressure.

No, she was feeling more hurt than anger, but that didn't mean she didn't feel anger - oh no, once she'd gotten over the shock, she had felt her insides cook and boil over with frothing anger. The problem was Mildred had no idea what would have happened if she had taken that call from Maud, she had cut the connection off because if she'd accepted it and spoken to her, then she could have lost her temper as soon as Maud spoke. Maud didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve Mildred losing her temper, something she never really did because it wasn't her and Maud knew it. But what surprised her the most was that Maud even bothered getting in touch in the first place.

"Well, perhaps she wants to say sorry," Julie said optimistically.

Mildred finished drying the plate and lightly clinked it back on the table. "It's a bit late for that," she replied, moving slightly to stand in the centre of the room, looking out of the window at the far end where the castle stood. She didn't both hiding her hurt about being expelled, and she knew there was no point since her mother knew how much she'd wanted to be a witch. She still could be a witch, she was still the future High Priestess.

Thinking of the Old Religion reminded her of her dad.

Did Merlin know about her being kicked out of Cackles? What would he do about it? Would he visit her, or would he just stay wherever he was? She was so out of she didn't notice her mother coming over to her until she was by her side. "It'll get easier, luv, I promise," Julie whispered.

Mildred looked up into her mother's face, and decided she would need to tell her mother about Merlin and the truth about their relationship, the only problem was how her mother would react.

Later on Mildred was sitting next to her mother on the couch, exhausted after her impromptu exercise with the computer dance mat. She had the feeling she had been using her magic to give her a quick boost of energy. Leaning back for a moment, she decided now was as good a time as any.

"Mum, do you remember how I kept pestering you, thinking that you were the one to give me my powers?" Mildred said, deciding that the basics was more important than rushing into telling her mum about Merlin.

Julie looked at her quizzically, wondering what that had to do with anything; she had been more amused than annoyed her daughter had thought she was a witch herself, and she'd wondered how on Earth she'd do that, and hide something so big from Mildred, who hadn't thought about the flaw in her idea. Mildred had problems with magic, and adapting to their culture which had so many loopholes Julie was surprised they were sane, so if she had problems adapting to magic, then how could she (Julie) handle it?

"Yeah," Julie replied slowly.

Mildred took a deep breath. "I was wrong, it wasn't you. It was my father."

Julie gasped. "Mildred-"

"I met him, mum, it was a while back, and he wanted to keep it as a surprise. He wants to see us during the summer," Mildred babbled.

"Mildred-" Julie said with grinding teeth. She was angry that Mildred had kept this from her.

"Merlin."

Julie blinked "What?"

"Merlin is my father, mum," Mildred said.

Julie closed her eyes and rubbed her aching temples. "Mildred, I think you'd better explain clearly, because you are not making a shred of sense."

Mildred sighed. "What do you know about Merlin, the wizard who helped King Arthur?"

Still bemused Julie answered, "Not a lot," she admitted, "there are so many stories, so many takes, its hard to keep track, but I know the basics - Merlin guided King Arthur in Camelot, and was with him until Arthur died."

"More or less true; Merlin was actually more of a bodyguard to Arthur, because at the time there was a lot of hatred towards the Old Religion, I'll get to that in a moment, but basically Merlin couldn't tell Arthur he had magic, since in those days the policy towards magical users was basically to kill them," Mildred was grim faced. "In those days, witches and wizards weren't common, there were sorcerers instead."

"What's the difference?"

"A witch or wizard is someone born with their powers, sorcerers have to devote their lives to learning magic and practicing it. Merlin was one of the first wizards born with their powers, and because of the fear in the country towards magic. It wasn't always like that, where sorcerers and druids feared for their lives." Mildred grimaced. "And then there was that disaster with Nimueh."

Julie's eyes crinkled. "I've heard of her, but I'm betting you're going to tell me everything I've heard about her is wrong?"

"Yes. Nimueh was a sorceress, a high priestess, and a very powerful one. It's a long story, but basically Uther Pendragon, the king of Camelot, was having problems with conceiving a child with his wife, Ygraine. So he turned to magic for help. I don't know for sure what was in her mind, whether she saw the opportunity to bring royalty closer to magic, but she had to warn the king of the dangers. When you conduct that kind of magic, to give a life then you have to take a life, but Uther didn't understand the meaning behind that, and so they went ahead and Arthur was later born. But because of her husband's lack of understanding, it was Ygraine that paid the price."

Julie knew what that meant. "She died."

"Yeah," Mildred replied grimly. "Ygraine died, and Uther blamed not only himself, he had a bigger and better scapegoat. Magic itself. Uther started a massive purge against magic. There had been dozens of attacks against magic over the centuries throughout the Old Religions turbulent history, but that was small fry compared to what the king of Camelot did. He was methodical and patient, and he also enlisted the aid of sorcerers in his quest to wipe out magic, but they didn't realise what was going on until it was too late. By that time thousands of people, including children, were rounded up and killed, as were magical creatures like dragons."

Julie took a deep breath. "While this story is horrible, Mildred, you're forgetting this is the 21st century, and besides I want to know how Merlin can be your dad."

"I was just giving you an idea of how horrible the Great Purge was, mum, its important to know the basics of what really happened. Merlin was forced to hide his powers when he arrived in Camelot, and with so many sorcerers being killed it's not a surprise, and there were dozens of sorcerers who were attacking Camelot out of revenge for what had happened over a decade before he arrived. Merlin made dozens of mistakes, mum, one of them was to allow Morgana to become an enemy."

"So, she was really evil?"

"I like to think of her more as a tragic figure, more of someone who was betrayed and deceived, and too gullible to know any better, but considering the fact Morgana was a witch herself and Uther's ward, that was bad enough. She had to watch as dozens of people were murdered, and when her powers appeared, she knew Uther would have her killed, so she was easy prey for her half sister, who kidnapped her, and brainwashed her and taught her magic. Eventually she fought Merlin, and after her sister died she became the High Priestess of the Old Religion, which made her more dangerous than ever. Merlin was told by a surviving dragon she was destined to be evil, but it could have been avoided."

Julie looked at her daughter thoughtfully. "Mildred, what is a High Priestess? What's the Old Religion? How did you find out about all this?"

Mildred gave her a wry smile. "After Agatha came back, I received a magic book. It was very old, battered, but well cared for. There were spells inside it, and I began trying them out. They were spells I found easy to use, and I was given a letter by the owner, who said he'd been watching over me my whole life - I know, it scared the living daylights out of me - and it said I was born with the power of the Old Religion. The Craft, the magic modern witches and wizards use, was derived from the Old Religion, and there are very few people who can perform more than a few spells."

Mildred looked down at her hands. "I studied that book, practiced dozens of spells; I even wore myself out once or twice experimenting with the spells, but I learnt a lot, but I was still struggling with the Craft spells." Mildred shook her head, chuckled a little. "The main issue I had with the spells was I didn't know, I couldn't have known because surprise, surprise no one had bothered to tell me that witches and wizards shape the spells the way they feel it should be. If they had, maybe I wouldn't have done so badly."

Julie wrapped an arm around Mildred's shoulder, comforting her despite her curiosity, confusion and wonder about what all this had to do with the man who had fathered her only child. "It's not your fault the teachers couldn't do their jobs, luv," Julie whispered.

"I know, mum," Mildred replied, then she felt compelled to tell the rest of the story. "The teachers found out about what I was doing after they saw my eyes turn gold when I stopped Ethel Hallow from destroying my homework."

"Your eyes turned gold?!" Julie repeated.

"Yeah," Mildred replied, knowing her mother would find that hard to believe, but it had to be said since her mother could see her practicing her powers. "It happens only when I cast a spell. It's harmless. Anyway, the teachers saw my eyes turn gold, so they became suspicious and they notified the Great Wizard."

The snort that came out of Mildred told Julie of how she really felt about that. "He had everyone assemble in the Great Hall, and he announced it to the world I was going to become the High Priestess of the Old Religion, the first one in a millennium after Morgana Pendragon."

"Morgana Pendragon, I thought she was called Morgana Le Fey? I wondered when you talked about Morgana before, how she'd worried about being caught using magic, and I'd wondered what you'd meant. And how can you be the High Priestess?"

"Morgana was Uther's ward, so she was quite close. I don't know if it was someone making up the name, so don't ask. As for me being the High Priestess, its because Merlin is my father. He's still alive, mum. I think his magic is so powerful its kept him alive all these years, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, when he met you- you know the rest."

Julie looked away and rubbed her forehead. "This is too much to take in, its not easy to accept. Merlin is your father, you inherited his magic, and you're going to be this High Priestess, and I had a fling with Merlin!"

Mildred held back the giggle that was threatening to escape. Her mother sounded so melodramatic it was hard not to smile. Unfortunately Julie's glare told her that her amusement was far from discreet.

"Where's Merlin now?"

Mildred was glad she didn't know where her dad was, if the almost casual tone was anything to go by, it was clear her mother's intentions were far from amicable. "I don't know, honestly I don't. All I know is Merlin has been watching over us for years, and besides from what he told me it was he was stopped from coming to see us. He almost died trying to see us, mum. He was even thinking of asking you to marry him."

Julie stopped, her anger abating. She had always felt anger and resentment towards Mildred's father for just leaving her when she was pregnant and she had long since stopped thinking about him, but when Mildred began attending Cackles Academy, she had thought about him more often knowing that he could be the one who'd given Mildred her magic.

But she hadn't expected him to be the most famous wizard in history. She wondered how it would've worked out, being married to Merlin. Sure, they'd have their ups and downs, but what married couple didn't, but at least she would have been prepared for the magic part.

Another thing she hadn't expected was hearing how he'd almost died trying to see them, and it showed when she asked, "Is he okay?"

"He is now, but when it happened it felt like he was dying," Mildred answered, not going to repeat what she had heard from her father, but decided to at least give her another clue how bad things had been, "his magic was almost torn out."

Julie had no idea how that would feel for a wizard, but she imagined it must have been beyond her comprehension of pain. "What's he going to do?" she asked.

"Merlin promised he was going to see us," Mildred replied.

Julie was open minded at the best of times, but she wondered if her daughter was being a bit too naive and gullible here. While she wanted to confront Merlin, she hoped he wasn't going to use his magic as an excuse for not seeing her. She wondered why Merlin's magic would be torn out just by seeing her and Mildred, and she'd been truly hurt he'd left her with a baby. She loved Mildred, one of the best things that had happened to her, but raising Mildred had taught Julie many lessons. She just wasn't sure if she could pick up with where she'd left off with Merlin, and if she was honest she was unsure if she even wanted to.

Only time would tell.

* * *

"Mildred got expelled," Maud said, repeating herself for the dozenth time. How many times could she say the same thing, and Agatha would stop?

The bespectacled young witch was scared out of her wits as she sat in the chair in front of the Head's desk. After leaving the Mirror room and failing to speak to Mildred, Maud had left for her room where she could think, but after assembly where Miss Gullet, acting like the Major Domo of an arrogant, spoilt Queen, declared Agatha to be the new Headmistress of the Academy; Maud didn't see the point behind that since Agatha had made it clear she was in charge, as Miss Drill had quickly discovered when Agatha had transformed her into a snail.

Agatha held back the urge to curse the girl, and transform her into a snail like she had Miss Drill to punish the other witch. While transforming Maud Spellbody was attractive, Agatha didn't want to cast spells against the students unless she had no choice in the matter. She had promised herself to be a firmer disciplinarian than her sister Ada ever was. But Agatha knew the difference between being harsh and being extreme. She knew of a witch known as Broomhead who had been under the investigation of the Educational office for years, after rumours of her beating and tormenting her students had lost her powers when an undercover witch managed to get evidence back to the Great Wizard.

Broomhead had been sentenced to life imprisonment with no powers, and forced to clean the most filthy places in their community. Agatha had no intention of following in her footsteps - she might be the legitimate heiress to the Headmistress position of the Academy which had been in the family for centuries, but the Great Wizard could take it from her at any moment, and if she caused harm to a student then the punishment would be severe. Broomhead's punishment was still an example to witch teachers who pushed the boundaries between what was traditionally acceptable and what was extreme.

But Maud Spellbody was trying her patience - Agatha had hoped the girl would be cooperative since she knew the girl was intelligent and a rule abiding goody twoshoes, but the girl was pushing the limits of her patience. It seemed that Mildred's personality had rubbed off on her.

"Tell us where she is," Agatha pressed, standing so close behind Maud the girl could smell her hot breath even without turning her head, "or I'll turn you into a dung beetle."

Miss Gullet snickered.

Maud wasn't sure what was worse, being threatened with being transformed into an insect, or the other things this woman could do to her, but what was bad was having to be in Agatha's presence - where Miss Cackle was nice, warm, friendly though she could become hard in a second if you got on the wrong side of her, Agatha was harsh and cold full stop.

Miss Gullet was just an idiot - there was no doubt she was brilliant at magic, no doubt at all. It was just a shame she was extremely dense about other things.

Maud heard Agatha move so she was standing over her. "Or a head louse."

Not giving Maud time to think about the prospect of becoming a head louse, and being disgusted at being forced to constantly take refuge in someone's hair, Agatha stepped slowly to whisper above Maud's ear. "Or…..a toilet brush."

Miss Gullet snickered again, finding the prospect so disgustingly funny she couldn't help but laugh.

Maud gulped loudly, not just at the thought of something worse than a head louse, or a dung beetle, though she felt she would have preferred a head louse; at least she would not be rolling around in the excrement of other people, either as a dung beetle or a toilet brush, though sucking blood and itching people's scalps wasn't attractive either, but at least she'd be protected unless someone combed for nits.

Maud hadn't expected Agatha or Miss Gullet to come down on her so quickly to find out where Mildred lived. They both knew Mildred had been expelled for being out of bounds, but the pair of them had been busy getting ready to announce the change of leadership in the school so it was too late to stop Miss Hardbroom from expelling Mildred. Maud hoped the potions mistress wasn't going to suffer for that decision, but she doubted anything would come of it - Miss Hardbroom was one of the most respected members of staff at Cackles, and she was the only person to calm the other teachers down.

But she'd been wrong. She had hoped Agatha and Miss Gullet would be too busy to pay any attention to her or Enid as they tried to think of a way to stop the two witches, but they had called her to the office, and there was no way she could have avoided those summons. When she'd arrived at the door Maud had almost expected the two adult witches to interrogate her, using magic to force the answers out of her, but she'd been wrong.

Instead Agatha had been almost cordial towards her, clearly trying to be friendly and relaxed; it might have worked if Maud hadn't known what kind of person Agatha really was. And that was when the questions started. Where was Mildred Hubble? Where did Mildred Hubble live? What was Mildred planning? Things like that, and now Maud had told Agatha that Mildred had been expelled. No, she didn't knew where Mildred lived, and she didn't know what Mildred was planning. In fact she was unsure if Mildred even knew Agatha had taken the school.

The second answer was more or less the truth. Maud had crashed into Mildred's balcony, but she hadn't exactly stopped to get an idea of which block of flats the Hubbles lived in, and she was glad she hadn't now. She had been so excited and terrified at the same time when she'd made that crash she hadn't bothered noticing the details of the place. Besides, the Spellbody family lived a fairer distance from the school than Mildred and Julie did, so Maud didn't exactly know the area that well.

Alarms started to go off when they all heard a sound signifying magical transportation, and Maud clapped her hands over her ears in reflex at how loud the sound was. Squinting her eyes and holding back the urge to slam her own hands to her ears at the sound, and just flicked her fingers cursing both Hardbroom and Gullet at the same time.

Once she was aware the sound had died down, Maud gratefully lowered her hands. "What was that?" she asked.

Ignoring the girl Agatha turned to Miss Hardbroom. "Naughty, naughty," she chided, taking a sadistic pleasure in scolding the arrogant Miss Hardbroom like a child, "you used unauthorised magic. I didn't authorise the use of transportation spells."

"Sorry, force of habit," Hardbroom said nonchalantly as Agatha walked back over the desk, and she glided over to where Maud was sitting, "I was looking for Maud."

Maud waited until Miss Hardbroom was standing next to the chair. "They were going to turn me into a toilet brush," she told the teacher, hoping she'd stop the two lunatic witches from going that far. She kept one of her eyes fixed firmly on Agatha, who was rifling through the paperwork on the desk. She wondered if the interrogation was over, but she wasn't going to chance it.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Miss Hardbroom said smoothly even as Miss Gullet walked closer, and the potions mistress kept an eye on her former colleague. "Maud is a good girl, who respects authority," she went on, bending down to Maud's level. When she made eye contact with the girl, Miss Hardbroom let her eyes move, trying to tell Maud to look past her towards the painting hanging on the wall. It took a moment and a bit of persistence, but Maud followed her potion teacher's eyes and looked past her shoulder. The girl's widening eyes and her gulp of fear told Miss Hardbroom that Maud had gotten the message only too well.

"You will set an example for the others," Miss Hardbroom went on, hoping that Maud got this message - to try to keep their heads down, but still find a way to get rid of Agatha. "Won't you?" she pressed.

"Yes," Maud said, nodding though her eyes were still wide with fear, and Miss Hardbroom stood up, hoping that with this new information the truth of what had happened to Ada got out. Maud turned to speak directly to Agatha's back. "I'm sorry, Miss Cackle."

"That's alright, dear," Agatha glanced over her shoulder, waving a hand dismissively, "run along now."

Maud stood up and walked out slowly, not taking her eyes off the portrait, eyes wide with fear as she took in the moving eyes in Ada's picture, wondering if Ada could hear her. But any ideas she had of trying to help her were put on hold when Miss Gullet hissed irritably at her, waving for her to get out.

Maud did just that. She had to set the record straight with the others. It took her a while to find Enid, and she told her about the picture. But Enid didn't believe her. "But that picture's always been there," Enid said.

"But it never moved before," Maud was grim as they both walked up the stairs, stopping when they reached the top.

"So, Miss Cackle-"

"Didn't run away," Esmerelda Hallow finished and both girls watched as the older Hallow sister walked up the stairs towards them, "Agatha trapped her in the portrait. I saw it," she added grimly before she sighed. "I followed Ethel to the office, saw her open a panel and remove a scroll. It was one of the Cackle sisters's birth scroll, giving the birth order of the twins and revealing that Agatha's the older twin. It must have been there for years, but I don't know how Ethel could have known about it."

"What happened then?"

"Ethel said something about someone lying to her, Agatha, all her life, and then she opened the window and I saw Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle on a broomstick. I thought it was Miss Hardbroom at the time. But Miss Cackle… she tricked me into transferring my magic to her, and then the real Miss Cackle came in, and that's when I realised I was tricked. And the witch I thought was HB turned out to be Miss Gullet."

Maud looked around. There were too many people coming and going, and someone was bound to overhear and it could even get back to Miss Gullet or to Agatha. "Come on, we'd better find a place that's quiet," she told the two girls and they left the stairway to hurry to one of the bedrooms. They came to Mildred's room, and despite hesitating on the threshold Maud opened the door. The room felt sort of empty without its occupant's presence in the school, and Maud smiled a little as she took in the drawings and paintings on the wall.

Maud's smile widened as she stroked Tabby, tickling his ears as he leaned into her touch. "This is the best room to have some privacy," she told the other two girls, smiling as she noticed Esme's curiosity as she wandered over to the drawings to take a closer look. "Hopefully Agatha and Miss Gullet won't realise we're here," she added.

Enid walked over to the bed and found the book of the Old Religion. There was a coloured piece of paper in the book marking where Mildred had gotten to in the volume. She opened the book and flicked through the old pages. "I wish we could use some of these spells," she said.

"Don't try it," Esmerelda warned. "That form of magic is so old we'd never be able to handle it."

"Yeah," Enid replied regretfully, then she started to shake her head as she went over the current mess happening around her. "You know what Esme, I've been thinking about what you said about that panel and how Ethel found the scroll so easily. I don't understand how Ethel even knew the scroll was even in that part of Miss Cackle's office. Unless she'd seen the scroll in Miss Cackle's hand-"

"No," Maud interrupted, her face set and serious. "Miss Cackle wouldn't be stupid enough to hold something like that in public. She couldn't even trust Miss Hardbroom with something like that. Everyone knows HB is a stickler for the code, she'd have had no alternative but to contact the Great wizard about the breach."

"You know what," Esme said slowly, "ever since Ethel and Mildred went back in time with the mists, I've strolled by my sisters room, listening to her go on to Drusilla about Mildred finding a scroll and showing it to Miss Cackle. Both of them looked grave and grim according to Ethel, and she's been obsessed with learning more about it ever since."

Enid looked over at Maud. "It makes sense. Ethel changed her appearance so she'd look and sound like you, Maud, and she tried to blackmail Mildred into telling her what she was hiding."

"Sounds like Mildred found the birth scroll," Esme remarked, making a face at how nosy her sister was, "Ethel saw her, became suspicious, and when she had the chance to find out what the scroll was she took it." Esme shook her head bitterly. "My sister never did know when to keep her nose to herself."

"Before she was transported home by HB, Mildred and Miss Cackle met quite a few times," Maud said, "right in the middle of the revision period. So she must have known, and Miss Cackle swore her to secrecy."

"Mildred's a good choice to keep that kind of secret," Enid observed. "She wasn't born in our world, the Witches' code is new to her, so it wouldn't exactly bind her and force her to tell someone in a position to have Miss Cackle thrown out, not like if it was one of us."

Neither Maud or Esme could refute that. The Witches' code made it very clear the punishment for any witch who went against tradition, or any other accomplice or accessory was severe. It was one of the most punishing parts of the code there was, and if Maud, Enid, or Esmerelda were discovered to not only know about the birth order of the Cackle twins, but had covered it up as well, they would be publicly punished. Their families would be shamed. It was the ultimate nightmare of a family. The Spellbody's, Hallows, and the Nightshades would never recover from it, or be trusted with anything ever again.

Even Enid knew better than to push that part of the code, knowing even her rich and glamorously famous parents wouldn't survive the punishment either if she flouted it and believed she could get away with it; even Enid knew her limits and what was allowed, and while her attitude bordered on reckless and casual, she wasn't stupid enough to do something like that.

But Mildred didn't have a magical family as far as they knew besides Merlin but there was a chance Julie Hubble had ancestors who were magical, so she was still safe from the punishment but that could change once the Great Wizard was sure about what to say or do, but her status as the future High Priestess of the Old Religion could make the Witches' code meaningless to Mildred. The Old Religion not only predated the Craft, it predated the Witches's code, so Mildred could be immune to the repercussions of the law.

"Speaking of Mildred, did you manage to get through to her on the Mirror?" Enid asked Maud, remembering she should've asked, but with the assembly and seeing Gullet make a fool of herself and Maud being called away she hadn't had the chance.

Maud sagged. "Yeah I got through, and Mildred was there with her mum, but she cut the call without accepting it."

"She's gotta be mad at you for getting HB to send her home," Enid observed.

Maud glared at her.

Esme looked confused and so Maud and Enid filled her in on what had happened. Esmerelda chuckled. "Mildred….that girl seems to live to find trouble, doesn't she?" she shook her head. "I just wish my sister wouldn't keep ranting and raving about her being this troublesome menace, but when they came back through the Mists of Time, she seemed really grateful towards Mildred for helping her get Nightstar back."

"Ethel's a contradiction," Maud commented moving to take a look at the book of magic in Enid's hands. Her friend looked up at her, and smiled. Maud smiled back.

The two noticed Esme's thoughtful look. "Do you know what I don't get?" she asked, deciding to let out something that had been troubling her for weeks now. "I don't understand why Mildred is suddenly this High Priestess, or why Merlin personally came here to see her. When Merlin arrived, he took Mildred onto the grounds and they spoke together. Mildred became angry with him and stormed off, but she calmed down quickly. I think Merlin told her something so important she lost her temper," Esmerelda told them, "I was watching with a few of my friends."

"What do you think they were talking about?" Enid asked, playing along.

Esmerelda shrugged. "I don't know. They were too far away to make any sense."

Maud nodded thoughtfully, she and Enid both knew what Esme was talking about and played along. "She did seem a bit cagey afterwards, like she was hiding more secrets," she said, sharing a look with Enid about not spilling the beans that Mildred was Merlin's daughter. "But I'll never forget what happened when she lost her temper in the Great Hall."

"Neither will I," Enid shuddered, images of the broken glass from the windows showering everyone in the hall like crystal glass.

Maud closed her eyes, shuddering herself at the reminder of the fear written all over Mildred's face. Mildred was her best friend, so it was terrifying that Mildred would automatically think she'd be killed for having a magical talent.

"Still for a girl as mild mannered as Mildred Hubble to lose her temper like that, and worry about being hunted down and killed for having that magical talent…..it must have been scary for her," Esmerelda said sympathetically.

"I wish we knew how to use the magic in that book," Maud whispered, looking down at the worn leather book. "We could use it now."

"There is hope," Esme said. "I've just remembered, the Great Wizard should be here soon."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Enid whispered, "if anyone can stop her, he can."

All three girls looked happy with the prospect, so why didn't they feel positive about it?

* * *

The cat's meow startled Mildred who was busy pottering around the flat - she had nothing better to do now she was out of the Academy, so now she was trying to find something meaningful to do while her mother was out at work. Mildred looked around and saw a familiar cat by the window.

"Tabby!" Mildred rushed to her cat and picked the animal up, letting Tabby purr against her chest. "How did you get here?"

Tabby had been left behind at the academy, and when HB had sent her away the woman had neglected to transport Tabby as well. Mildred felt ashamed that she had been so messed up thinking about her own problems she hadn't paid any attention to her cat.

As she made a fuss over Tabby she noticed a thin blue thread running down from the cat's neck. It was a ribbon and as Mildred lifted it up she saw its end tied around a small scroll of paper. It was wrapped around a small vial. "What's this?" Mildred asked Tabby before she grinned, "A message…..from Ethel?"

Mildred walked into the flat, carrying Tabby with her and sat down on the couch and unrolled the scroll.

It read, "Hello Mildred. I know you probably didn't expect me sending you a letter with your cat, but lets call it a peace offering. I know how much Tabby means to you, so I felt it was a better way to tell you what's going on. You see, Agatha and Miss Gullet have taken over the Academy. I showed Agatha the birth scroll - you might not have told me what it was you were hiding, but it was wrong. I showed Agatha the scroll after she and Miss Gullet tricked Esmerelda into donating her magic to Agatha. At the time it was the only way I felt I could be noticed. Agatha has trapped Miss Cackle in the painting in the headmistress's office, and I think she's dealt with the Great Wizard himself - don't ask me how, it shouldn't be possible since Agatha took Esme's power; not that that stopped Miss Gullet from turning my sister into a trophy with her face on it. Yeah, my sister and I have our….differences, but she is my sister.

"You're the only person who can help, Mildred - I'm close enough to Agatha and Miss Gullet to know that Miss Gullet cast a spell that detects unauthorised spells, spells like transportation spells, and it binds everyone who was in the castle at the time, and since you weren't in the castle at the time, you're immune to the effects. Mildred, I know we've had our differences, but please, help us. I don't know how far Agatha is going to go.

"Let me tell you a story - Mistress Broomhead was a powerful teacher at a prestigious school, and she was a traditionalist, she was the epitome of a powerful witch - strong, knowledgeable in the code, potions and spells. But she was scum. Mildred, you're new to our world, so you don't know about our teaching traditions. Some of them were strict, severe. There were times students had to be physically punished, sometimes a teacher would force a student to drink a toxic potion and then cure them to teach a lesson they wouldn't forget. But they had their limits, think Hardbroom times by 3, and you have a picture. Many of those teachers were renowned as the best because they got the best results. Not Broomhead.

"Broomhead is a throwback to those traditions - it took time for them to be done away with, though some traditions still remain. Those traditions are define magical learning, but there's a difference between Broomhead and those old teachers - they knew their limits, what they could and could not do, and they had their restraints that they followed as strictly as the code itself. Broomhead is a psychopath, she actively enjoyed inflicting pain, and she humiliated her students. She was arrogant, too - she believed she held all the cards and believed she'd get away with her crimes. The story goes the Great Wizard himself heard of the rumours, the stories, and he sent an undercover witch to investigate. Let's just say she was lucky to get out alive, and she was a powerful and experienced witch herself. The Great Wizard was furious according to the story, and he made sure Broomhead paid the price. He removed her magic, Mildred, had her sentenced to life imprisonment and forced to clean out the filthier parts of the our world. There's no chance she'll get her magic back. From what I've heard, the woman was cowering in a whimpering heap before the Great Wizard. A far cry from the arrogant, bigoted, monster she had been before.

"You're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Mildred, the Great Wizard's gone missing, but I know he was here at the Academy. I saw him arrive myself, and it wouldn't surprise me if Agatha has become so heady on power she thinks she's invincible. There's no telling what she'll do next. There's invisibility potion that I've brewed for you. Knock on the school doors, and I'll let you in.

Hope to see you soon,

Ethel Hallow."

Mildred reread the message twice. The story about Broomhead had been surprising to her at first, but as she got through it she could see Ethel's point - the idea of Agatha becoming so power crazed to the point where she felt as though she could not be beaten after taking on the Great Wizard - she might not know how powerful the man was, but it was clear he was experienced when it came to magic - then Mildred shuddered.

She stood up and walked around before looking at her cat. "What can I do, Tabby?" she asked, pleased she was again speaking to her beloved familiar. "I've got to stop her, I could have stopped her in the woods. If I had maybe this mess wouldn't have happened, and Esme might not have lost her powers," Mildred stopped her bitter self recrimination.

She looked around the kitchen for inspiration, and her eyes lit up when she spotted the map. It might not be a broomstick fitting for a witch, but it would do.

* * *

Getting to the school on the mop was no different to flying on a broomstick - granted, the mop wasn't designed to fly a witch anywhere, but it did the job perfectly - and Mildred found herself enjoying the flight. She was surprised that she was able to fly right into the castle grounds, doing it without being seen by anyone was the hard part, but she was glad no alarms started blaring. After landing, Mildred took out the vial containing the invisibility potion and downed the lot.

She passed a few of the other girls silently as she walked up the steps to the door. "Come on, Ethel," she hissed, hoping the younger of the Hallow sisters was on the other side already.

The door opened and Ethel came out, Mildred noticed the head of year sash in purple rimmed in gold, identical to the one Esmerelda wore around her waist, but where Esme had earned it with hard work and honesty Ethel had earned it by doing Agatha a favour, but Mildred didn't see the point in telling Ethel that. At the moment the two had a truce, it wasn't worthwhile to have a fight.

"You need to be invited in, remember?" At least some things were consistent, even with the school being slowly turned into a prison camp, Agatha and Miss Gullet taking control, teachers trapped in portraits and wizards going missing, Ethel Hallow would still be so incredibly bossy.

"Well, go on, then," Mildred said, not in the mood to play games with Ethel, but willing to be patient with her for now.

Ethel looked like she'd been told to swallow five lemons and a lime before having to eat a wasp nest whole. "I never thought I'd say this, but," she bowed, "well met, and welcome, Mildred Hubble." She stepped aside to let Mildred pass.

"Well met," Mildred returned graciously, waiting until Ethel had closed the door before she asked questions. "How have things been?"

"Not good, I don't think it's a good idea for you to speak, not until we get to the office," Ethel said and the two girls rushed to the Headmistress's office, though they had to be careful since Agatha might make up some rule that stopped students from running through the corridors.

"It's in here," Ethel whispered as she opened the door, gesturing for Mildred to come in.

Mildred looked around the office walls for the portrait in question, but she couldn't see it. "Where?" she asked as she closed the door.

"There," Ethel pointed to a blank section of the wall, but it wasn't there. "It's….gone?"

Ethel walked around the room, her back was to Mildred so the invisible witch wasn't able to see her features. "Ethel, please tell this wasn't one of your tricks," Mildred said warningly. If it was then she would be really disappointed…. "Was this whole thing a setup?"

"No, I promise," Ethel said, turning around.

"Mildred? Is that you?" Mildred and Ethel turned to look up the stairs leading to the small reading area in the office. Maud was standing on the top of the stairs, looking bemused but happy. Mildred was happy as well, she was still a bit hurt by her best friend's 'betrayal' but she wondered if there was more to the story than she'd believed, but there'd be plenty of time for that later.

"Maud," Mildred greeted, glancing up the stairs when she saw the flash of movement and a hint of yellow, and found herself looking at Enid on the upper floor.

Maud had a massive grin on her face as she looked around the room for her. "Where are you?"

Ethel gestured to a spot right in front of Maud, and Mildred chuckled despite her best friend not seeing it. "Here, I'm invisible," Mildred said.

"I can see that," Maud replied as she stepped closer before she corrected herself for her rather silly reply, "well, I can't - I-oh, I mean- Oh, come over here, you silly slug!"

It felt good for Mildred to hug Maud again - even if the last time had only been a couple of days ago. Maud let go of her, looking sad. "I'm sorry, Mildred," she said, her voice full of regret, "I'm sorry I got you expelled, but Agatha had taken over the school and Miss Hardbroom and I were afraid about what would happen to you."

Mildred was touched, really, but she had seen a flaw in the plan. "I know, but you could've told me," she said quietly, "you scared me."

"I'm sorry," Maud went, "I was just trying to keep you safe."

Mildred smiled - Maud might not see the smile, but she would hear it when she spoke - and said, "I know."

"More importantly," Ethel's strident voice interrupted the moment, "what are you two doing here?"

While she was a little miffed that her reunion with her friends was interrupted, Mildred had to admit Ethel had a point. "Yeah, why are you two here?" she echoed Ethel's question.

"Well," Maud began, "we thought," she walked back up the stairs to the library level, Ethel following after her but Mildred stayed where she was, confused, "that if we could get the painting out of the school, maybe we could find someone to -"

The door opened, interrupting Maud, and Miss Gullet came into the office. The ex Spells Science teacher took one look at the blank wall and glared at the three young witches.

"This….isn't what it looks like," Ethel said.

"Trying to steal school property, eh?" Miss Gullet asked.

"I-I didn't, it wasn't me," Ethel got out, but a glare from Enid and Maud stopped her from saying anything else, but Miss Gullet didn't seem keen or too bothered to listen to her.

"Well, that's just too bad," Miss Gullet said with a sickly sweet smirk on her face as she clicked her fingers and the door closed and she walked softly into the room towards the desk, "I think you've all seen a bit too much."

"What are you going to do, expel us?" Enid asked, imitating Miss Gullet's voice towards the end, but she looked down when she noticed the horrified looks on Maud and Ethel's faces.

Mildred noticed the sickly sweet smirk on Miss Gullet's face was still there, but there was a more innocent tinge. "Of course not," she said, sounding hurt as if Enid's question had torn a hole in her heart. "I'd hate you to miss the end of term-"

"Wáce ierlic!" Mildred shouted, and even when she was invisible she could feel the familiar rush of the Old Religion magic surging through her, and hit Miss Gullet in the back, and the disgraced teacher was thrown really hard into a stone wall, and she was knocked unconscious. Maud blew out a breath at seeing the woman being sent into a wall.

"That was close," she said, sure that Miss Gullet was about to transform them all into something. "Millie, you're becoming visible again."

Mildred looked down at her hands, seeing that her hands had a more ghostly quality to them as the invisibility spell wore off. "Well, nice while it lasted," she commented before looking up at her friends and Ethel. "What were you saying before she came in, about the portrait?"

Maud blinked, then she said, "As I was saying before Miss Gullet interrupted me, we were hoping to get out of the school, take the portrait and find someone to get Miss Cackle out."

Mildred had walked over and bent down so she could get a good look at the portrait, and she felt ill looking at the moving eyes of the second Cackle twin. "Who can get her out?"

Maud sagged. "I don't know, but there's got to be someone as powerful as the Great Wizard out there."

"Speaking of the Great Wizard, where is he?" Ethel asked.

Maud shook her head, "We don't know. We know he's still here."

"He can't help us," Mildred decided. She was out of her depth as she tried to think of a way to get rid of Agatha, and as she tried not too her mind went back to the letter Ethel had sent her with Tabby and the invisibility potion; try as hard as she might, she wanted Agatha to push the limits and become uncontrollable so everyone could see what kind of woman she was.

The only problem was time. They had to act now.

Unfortunately, Miss Gullet had been waking up, but the first thing she'd heard was the sound of voices and not wanting to alert them to her return to the land of the awake she hadn't let out any sound. The stunning curse hadn't been too strong but it had knocked her out for a few minutes, and then she realised there was an addition. Mildred was back. Holding back the instinctive urge to scream or grunt with pain, Miss Gullet pushed herself up. Seeing movement, Mildred cried out, "Look out."

But Miss Gullet sent Mildred away with a strong wave of magic, slamming her into a wall and giving the little brat a dose of her own medicine, but she grinned maliciously as she turned the girls into cakes and levitated them onto a platter. Miss Gullet looked down at Mildred's prone body - the girl was groaning, and she wanted nothing more than to turn her into a cake and see one of the girls chew on her…..

The door opened and Miss Hardbroom came inside, but she stopped when she took in the scene. Miss Gullet was standing holding a platter with three cakes on them and Mildred was at her feet, but the former teacher had her fingers poised to cast a spell, but the moment Miss Gullet saw her she froze, but grinned innocently before she used a transportation spell. Once the former teacher had left, Miss Hardbroom rushed over to Mildred who was just beginning to sit up, wincing at the pain in her head.

"Mildred Hubble, what are you doing back here?" she demanded.

Mildred sighed and she launched into a rushed explanation of what had happened - how Tabby had been sent to her flat with the note and the invisibility potion from Ethel, how she'd arrived and was brought to the headmistress's office and found Enid and Maud trying to find a way to smuggle the portrait out of the office so someone could get it out for someone to reverse the spell because the alarm spell cast of the school had made it impossible for them to reverse.

"Cakes?!" Miss Hardbroom repeated in horror as she was filled in about what those cakes were on that platter Miss Gullet had taken.

"Yes, we have to stop her before someone eats them-" Mildred had just picked herself up and was rushing for the door, but Miss Hardbroom raised a finger. "Stop that. Only Miss Cackle can help them now, and only you can help Miss Cackle."

* * *

Agatha and Miss Gullet shared a smug look behind Miss Drill's back, amazed by how easy it was to fool them. Agatha only needed to spare a close look at the tops of the cakes to see the faces on them, and she sent a pleased look towards Gullet; while the former Spells science teacher was clueless in some avenues, she was very good at what she did and she had a wide repertoire of spells. Soon the school would be down a few students. But Miss Gullet leaned in. "We need to talk."

Mildred walked dejectedly through the corridors of the Academy ten minutes later. The first High Priestess of the Old Religion in a thousand years and she was just not powerful enough to release Miss Cackle from the painting. Miss Hardbroom said it wasn't her fault, that a witch's power only increased as time went by. Mildred wished she had a deeper connection to her magic, but she was still a novice unlike her father. Merlin would probably have managed to get Miss Cackle out, no problem, but he was more experienced than she was.

Now she was being sent out of the Academy.

Again.

Mildred knew Miss Hardbroom was just trying to keep her safe, but she felt responsible for what was happening - she wished she had never found that birth scroll, that she had just kept it hidden in the office, alternatively she wished she had told Miss Cackle to just burn the damn thing and forget about it, though she knew Ada wouldn't have done it. She also wished she hadn't gone in the forest only to see her broomstick being disintegrated.

But as she walked by the doors that led into the Great Hall, Mildred saw Miss Gullet holding the platter of cakes and she realised she could still make a difference.

"No!" she screamed as Felicity and Drusilla took a cake each. "Don't eat those cakes!"

Agatha glared at her savagely. "Mildred Hubble!"

Mildred raised her hands just as the alarm blared. Everyone clapped their hands to their ears even as red light flashed through the hall like an actual alarm….. It was quickly shut off.

"Miss Hardbroom. In the office," Miss Gullet ground out, and she and Agatha glared at Mildred with pure hatred in their eyes. "We'll deal with you later," Agatha said before she and Miss Gullet both flicked their fingers and they disappeared with their own transportation spells.

* * *

Miss Hardbroom knew her little attempt to free Ada from the portrait would end in failure. The alarm spell cast by her former colleague was very strong, and since she like all the other teachers had been in the school at the time of the casting meant no one could cast it without alerting Agatha. That was the reason why she'd hoped Mildred could take her out of the picture because if the girl could take her out there might be a way to stop Agatha and Miss Gullet before they went too far.

Miss Hardbroom hated the fact she'd been forced by Agatha to subdue the Great Wizard - Hecate was a powerful witch, and she knew she could hold her own against most people, but the Great Wizard was not one of them, but with the threat of the annihilation spell over the school - Hecate couldn't believe how far Agatha was willing to go to keep the school, and it made her feel sick - she'd had no choice but to work with Agatha and Miss Gullet in subduing the unfortunate man so then Agatha could transform him into a balloon; Hecate still shivered at the bad joke Agatha had made when she'd let him go in the cupboard.

It was surprising Mildred hadn't managed to take Miss Cackle out of the portrait since she had so much magical power, but Miss Hardbroom quickly realised that despite her potential, despite all the power she had shown over the last few months, Mildred was still subject to the basic laws of magic, and she probably wouldn't reach the level needed to get Ada out until she was at least 16, maybe a few years older.

While it was disappointing, it wasn't all that surprising to Hecate. It was a means of ensuring that the magician didn't become overloaded with power

They could not wait. Ada needed to be freed now, though how she'd manage to defeat the power-mad Agatha was any one's clue, before the power mad twin sister had her powers removed after her first takeover of the school, they'd been evenly matched when it came to magical power, but even with Esmerelda's magic now inside her Agatha could only do so much, it was only her experience with magic that made her such a threat.

After saying the incantation, Hecate only had to hold out her arms as Ada started to leave the portrait, and she hoped she had enough time….

* * *

"No!" Mildred cried and rushed to Felicity's side as the other girl was about to take a great big chunk out of the cake she was holding.

Felicity stiffened, and said annoyed, "Mildred, I was going to eat that."

"Well don't," Mildred snapped, not taking an eye off the cake as she wondered who it was - Ethel? Maud? Enid? - then decided it didn't really matter; she was too busy trying to work out how to turn them back, and she was trying to work out a decent spell powerful enough to reverse what Gullet had done. "Those aren't cakes," she sighed, "they're your friends. Miss Gullet transformed Enid, Ethel and Maud into cakes, and you were about to eat them. Look around yourselves," Mildred said to the room at large, gesturing to the tables covered with fizzy pop, crisps and cakes, "they've given you junk food. Is that what you really want, to be made so fat and indolent, lazy, that you don't care about becoming what you came here to become - witches?" Mildred took the cake from Felicity's unresisting fingers and held it up, careful not to crush or damage it. "See this, this is one of us, a student at this school? Agatha and Miss Gullet are sick in their heads. They have taken this school, cast an alarm spell over it to stop any of us from calling for help, and they've also captured the Great Wizard. What do you think will come next? Use your imaginations."

Mildred took the three cakes and put them back on a platter, trying to work out the right spell. As she looked closely she could see the faces set on the tops of the cakes, and she felt physically sick looking at them, particularly when she heard a scream that sounded dimly like Maud.

She looked up when she felt Miss Drill stand near her.

"Any ideas?" It did upset Mildred that she was even asking for help since she was meant to be this all powerful, great witch, but Mildred was still learning how to use Craft spells to go with the Old Religion, and she wished she knew Old Religion spells that dealt with this kind of problem.

"Don't tell me, I know this one," Miss Drill muttered.

"So have I," Mildred looked up, "I've heard it." She cursed her inability to navigate the numerous rhymes of the Craft spells, wishing that she could just stick to the Old Religion, but she had to admit being able to make your own spells the way you wanted them to be work appealed to her own creativity.

"Each to her own, let the truth be shown," one of the cakes said in a squeaky voice.

Mildred stood up straight. "Each to her own, let the truth be shown!" she cried and she grinned as she felt the familiar rush of magic course through her, and she grinned when the cakes transformed back in Maud, Enid and Ethel. All three of them had their arms crossed over their chests, like they were trying to squash themselves into a more compact form - that made sense, given how small the cakes they'd been transformed into were.

"I nearly ate you," Felicity gasped.

At that moment Miss Gullet and Agatha reappeared in the Great Hall, looking smug, and Mildred felt her heart clench as she wondered just what they had done to Miss Hardbroom. But their expressions changed to shock when they saw the three un-caked girls standing on top of the table amid all the muck the girls had been eating for the last hour.

Maud had heard everything when she'd been a cake, knew the others had as well, but there were a few more things she knew and she wanted to set the record straight. "She turned us into cakes," she pointed at Miss Gullet, who glared at her, but Maud didn't care. She pointed at Agatha. "And she trapped Miss Cackle in the painting."

"And turned the Great Wizard into a balloon, don't forget that," Agatha smiled back, clearly not bothering with concealing the truth, though she did hide the anger she felt towards Mildred Hubble for again getting in her way. Agatha walked through the hall, Miss Gullet trailing after her like a dog.

"My methods are a tad unorthodox, but the Witch's code says I am Headmistress, and there's nothing any of you can do about it," she said smugly, confident that she would at last have her way and claim the school.

Deep inside Agatha disliked the lengths she was forced to go to keep control now she had usurped her sister's place - Agatha couldn't believe her sister of all people would go to such lengths to keep the school, breaking the code in such a manner, and for so many years without getting caught - but she had spent years in her sister's shadow ever since that day when she had failed to steal her sister's magic, and now she had the school Agatha was willing to take on anybody to make sure she didn't lose it. Yes, the annihilation spell was a tad extreme, but she needed to be. She didn't want to lose Cackles, not to Ada, not to the Great Wizard, not to Miss Hardbroom.

And certainly not to this brat in front of her!

When Agatha had realised Mildred Hubble possessed the rare gift of being able to harness and wield the Old Religion to a very high level she had wanted to have that power, but the girl had seen through her, though she still didn't know even though she'd had enough time to try to work it out for herself, so in the end she'd had to use Esmerelda Hallow's magic, freely given - it was amazing how many gullible students there were in the school, it wasn't perfect since the girl's magic was still maturing, but it would have to do.

"Yes, there is," Mona Spellbody's granddaughter whispered; it was amazing how similar the two were, not to mention annoying. Agatha looked at her challengingly, knowing that what was going come out of her mouth was not going to be good, in fact she had a good idea what Maud Spellbody was going to say.

Swallowing sightly - the girl really did need to work on her people skills if she was going to succeed - Maud asked the hall aloud, "Hands up those here who want Agatha in charge."

Agatha sighed under her breath when she saw that only Gullet had her hand shot in the air. That made sense because the stupid woman was desperate to get back in the school herself, but Agatha looked around the hall wondering if another student would raise her hand, but it never happened.

"And hands up who wants to get Miss Cackle back," Mildred looked around the hall.

Agatha almost growled to herself in frustration when she saw everyone's hands shoot up in the air.

"If you don't leave, we all will," Enid Nightshade said.

It shouldn't have come to this, Agatha thought sadly. But they had sealed their fates…..

But bluffing and arguing came naturally to the corrupt Cackle twin sister. "You can't," she sneered at the girls, but her focus was on Maud, Enid, Ethel and Mildred. Those four girls had ruined her plans this time.

"Without us, you have nothing to be headmistress of," Maud said logically.

Agatha nodded, pretending to be sulky but truthfully she knew that these girls would use the argument against her anyway. "Alright," she said amiably, and she waved her hand over herself summoning her cloak and witch's hat, she had an appearance to live up to. She had forgotten how good it felt to have such young magic within herself, but she had no intention to wait for Esmerelda's magic to grow. It had taken long enough before anyway.

"Well, I'll be on my way then."

Mildred was surprised and she didn't hesitate to show it. "Y-you're actually going?" she asked. Agatha wasn't surprised by her amazement; the girl had learnt that she was persistent, so it was hardly a surprise the girl was shocked she had decided to give up. Oh, how little you know me, Mildred…..

"I always dreamed of running this place," Agatha said wistfully, looking around the hall and remembering all the times she and her sister had gotten up to mischief here before it all went wrong, "but a school consists of people, not bricks and mortar," she walked over to the wall behind her, "so it doesn't really matter if I do this."

Agatha's cloak swirled as she planted her hands on the wall - she really did not want to do this, but she had no choice; besides if she couldn't have the school, no one else could - and chanted in a loud, clear voice, "Bricks and stone, beams and slate, all must fall….ANNIHILATE!"

Every one of the little brats in the hall started screaming as massive cracks appeared in the stone walls that had endured for a thousand years, the magic that had been supporting the school was beginning to break down. From above, dust began to fall like a gentle rainfall as the roof itself cracked and started raining down debris.

Mildred helped down Maud and started trying to think of a way to stop this, but she quickly gave up since she was way out of her league on this one. A massive block fell from above and smashed one of the tables.

"Hold it fast," Miss Drill cried, running towards the wall and slamming her own hands, glowing blue with magic, "hold it fast."

Mildred guessed what she was doing, but she didn't think it would work for long, but she still had to know how long they had before the school collapsed around like a deck of cards. "How long have we got?"

Miss Drill had her eyes closed from the strain of concentrating. "Not long. When my strength runs out, the whole place falls, just get out of here Mildred," she snapped, but Mildred knew she was too busy to answer questions.

"UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, MILDRED HUBBLE!" Agatha's call made Mildred look up. Agatha and Miss Gullet were standing on the balcony overlooking the hall, seeming like two despot rulers who were looking down on their kingdom of slaves. It wasn't their attitude that annoyed Mildred, not it was the fact that while all the other girls ran out of the hall, screaming in terror as they tried to stop themselves from being squashed by the falling masonry, and this insane witch was more interested in telling her that they would meet again, sounding like a really, really, really bad cartoon villain (was that how Agatha Cackle saw her?! Mildred hoped not), and that made Mildred angrier than before.

Chain lightning streaked through the hall, and despite Gullet's memory of the experience the first time round she was unprepared for it. But when the light cleared, there was no sign of the two evil witches.

The rush through the collapsing corridors was a nightmare for the girls - Mildred saw Ethel break away from the main group as they tried to get outdoors, shouting "Esmerelda" but there was nothing Mildred could do for her, and she quickly caught up with Maud and Enid, hoping she wasn't too selfish that at least they'd gotten out all right, but they'd had to dive to the soft grass in the courtyard to avoid the worst of the blast.

Mildred groaned as she sat up and looked up at the school. The whole place was cracking and falling to pieces, but Mildred caught sight of a figure on the roof, a woman wearing witch's robes.

Agatha. Mildred was amazed the woman had survived the chain lightning attack, but since they'd both vanished Mildred had no idea until now if they'd just transported out at the last minute or what.

She was saying something, but with the noise coming from the collapsing school it was hard for Mildred to hear what she was saying, but she didn't care one bit. This woman was responsible for causing so much pain, and here she was trying to destroy everything she wanted to have on a platter.

And Mildred knew that if she'd been given the chance then perhaps she could have used the Old Religion, but she didn't know any spells that could stop what Agatha was doing. Mildred felt responsible for all this mess - she had found the birth scroll, showed it to Ada Cackle and reduced her to a nervous wreck, and believed Agatha had taken over again when she hadn't….. she couldn't do anything.

But there was something they could do, all the girls from Cackles Academy.

"We aren't many," Mildred muttered to herself as she stood up, gazing up at the collapsing school all around them, "we are one."

"We aren't many, we are one," Maud and Enid said as they both took hold of her hands, taking up the chant. Mildred noticed and smiled at them, but she didn't really take her eyes off Agatha. She just kept chanting, becoming aware of the chant growing in pitch as the other girls took up the chant. The girls of Cackles Academy felt the magic of the Craft surging through them as the spell they were summoning to hopefully stop Agatha and repair the damage to their school, and they felt the power flowing through them like a surge of electricity, growing stronger the longer they chanted.

Maud and Enid glanced at their best friend and saw that Mildred's eyes were closed but she still chanted, and when the girl opened them again neither of them were too surprised to see that her eyes were gold and leaking power. "AGATHA'S SPELL SHALL BE UNDONE!" Mildred shouted, and the other girls followed through with her spell. "AGATHA'S SPELL SHALL BE UNDONE!"

The girls felt the power of the spell, much more than what they'd expected, surge through them as they finished the spell. It was a massive surge of magic, but its effects were clearly seen when they saw the cracks on the walls repair themselves and heal. Agatha and Miss Gullet cried out in surprise as they were engulfed in the magic that suddenly held them as the school repaired itself. Inside the school, all of the chunks of stone and brick, dust and slate drifted back up to where they had been before they sealed again like they had never been there before.

Ethel and Miss Drill came running out. Ethel was carrying a golden trophy, once the girl was out on the grass she turned around and held the trophy up to her shoulder, almost like she was hugging it. Mildred wasn't really surprised when she saw the trophy transform into Esmerelda. The older girl looked down at her resorted self with relief before she hugged Ethel in delight. Mildred chuckled - for all her jealousy and anger towards Esme, it was obvious that deep down she loved her older sister.

In the headmistress's office, the portrait showing Miss Hardbroom and Ada Cackle shimmered and warped with magic and the two teachers left the portrait and were free again. Outside in the courtyard the girls were standing waiting for the gold haze around the school to fade away, before the formerly trapped teachers suddenly appeared in a golden light.

"Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred smiled at them.

* * *

Near the office, in the cupboard where all the confiscated items were locked up in, the balloon the Great Wizard had been transformed into popped and a very annoyed Great Wizard appeared in the room. He had spent the last few hours trying to undo the spell on his own and was aware of the castle falling around him, when he'd felt the surge of the spell and now he was free. The school was repaired. He waved his hands and used a transportation spell to leave the room and reappeared in the courtyard, and took in the girls standing in a wide circle, their hands joined and realised they had been the ones to break the annihilation spell.

The Wizard saw Mildred Hubble in the circle, easy to spot with her yellow hoodie - he didn't know what had happened there, but it seemed it had been resolved - and made a mental note to find out what the girl had done. But for now he wanted to speak to Miss Hardbroom. He walked over to her, and she looked at him, her eyes bright with regret. Ada looked up at him with a sad expression, she had known what was happening inside her school and she had watched with horror as Agatha interrogated and threatened Maud and later perused the books for the spell that would destroy the school their family had been building and running for centuries.

"I am truly sorry your greatness," Hecate whispered, waiting for the Wizard's verdict.

"Well, I suppose there's no real harm done." The Wizard conceded after a moment's thought, realising that if she hadn't then Agatha would probably have destroyed the school much earlier than she'd planned.


	13. Chapter 13 Summer with dear old dad

Summer with dear old dad.

Mildred grinned at her mother who was busy pacing around the flat. "Nervous?"

"Yes, I am," Julie replied, not bothering stopping as she paced, "I'm about to meet your father for the first time in 11 years, and from what you've told me he's MERLIN for god's sake! How do you expect me to be? I can't believe you've kept this for weeks."

Mildred shrugged and held back a sigh. It had been a hectic few days after Agatha and Miss Gullet had been captured - Agatha had had the magic she'd stolen from Esmerelda removed and it was given back to its rightful owner - and had been imprisoned in a photograph which now hung on the wall of Miss Cackle's office. It was the smartest idea the Great Wizard had had so far as long as Mildred had known him, really, and it was a good thing he had learnt and realised just how dangerous Agatha really was though after the mess where Agatha had captured her own sister and manipulated him into coming to the school to show Ada in a terrible light, he already knew how dangerous she was even without magic. The fact Agatha had, with the help of Miss Gullet and Miss Hardbroom, turned him into a balloon and threatened to prick him as a bad joke probably hadn't helped.

It was the smartest idea because Agatha and Miss Gullet had proven themselves to be too dangerous to be allowed freedom - true, Mildred found it disgusting to be imprisoned in such a manner, but as long as they were locked away the two witches shouldn't try to take control of Cackles ever again.

The good news was Mildred was going back to Cackles!

She had a new broomstick - okay, so she'd not looked where she was flying and crashed into a tree! But she had been awarded 57% on her scores, and considering the lack of magical knowledge she'd had at the start, Mildred felt she'd done quite well, considering. Okay, so she wasn't a genius at this stage, but at least she was better than when she had first started.

Mildred glanced at her mother who was muttering under her breath to be calm and relaxed, and she had to hold down the urge to giggle madly as her mother paced up and down. "It'll be okay, mum," Mildred said softly, hoping her attempt to reassure Julie would work. "He'll be here," she added, privately telling herself if he stood up them up tonight, then she would personally hunt him down and make Morgana look like a sane person.

The Hubbles didn't need to worry. Merlin arrived. He knocked on the door and Julie let him in, it was strange seeing the way Julie had gone from nervous and testy to nervous and slightly timid, and Mildred asked herself if she was the same way.

Julie opened the door to the flat, curious and yet pleased Merlin wasn't as rude as other magical people like Hecate Hardbroom and had arrived like an ordinary person and just knocked on the front door. Opening the door a crack, Julie felt her emotions bubble and seethe like a Turkish bath at the sight of Merlin, he looked older as was appropriate so he and Julie both appeared to be the same age, but she wondered if it was because of his magic that he appeared like this and she made a note to ask him.

"Merlin," she said, but what else could she say to the man?

Merlin smiled sheepishly, "Hello Julie. May I come in?"

Julie blinked at him in surprise, then she blushed in embarrassment when she realised she had been standing in the doorway and she quickly moved out of the way.

Mildred was practically bouncing up and down in her seat when Merlin entered, and she jumped up and went over to him hesitatingly and then wrapped her arms around him. "Hi, dad," she said as though Merlin had just returned home after a long, hard day from work and he was getting a welcome home from his child.

Merlin chuckled and wrapped his arms around Mildred, though only Julie noticed that Merlin had done so hesitantly as though unable to believe he was holding his child for the first time in a decade. For 11 years Merlin had been cursing himself for hurting Julie and depriving Mildred of knowledge of magic, but he was delighted that he'd at last have a chance to redeem himself of his mistakes. If he had to he would remove his powers if the Old Religion caused him so much pain like it had when he'd tried to see Mildred in the past. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again; he didn't want to go to such lengths, he remembered only too well cowering away from the Saxons when Gwaine escorted him to the Crystal Cave before the Battle of Camlann. He had always been reliant on his magic to help him fight because he had never had the facilities to properly educate himself in how to fight, but he'd had plenty of opportunities to pass the time with Arthur in Avalon.

Merlin wondered and not for the first time since he'd discovered his own daughter was destined to become the new High Priestess of the Old Religion whether Mildred would have something to do with Arthur's resurrection, but he didn't know for sure. He had been waiting an watching for centuries for the kind of disaster that could jeopardise Albion, and there had been many; he had been so sure the Great Plague would have been one of them, but it wasn't until 10 years after the worst of it had died away he'd realised the problem was continental and not isolated to just one country.

The Second World war was another example, and an image of Arthur defeating Adolf Hitler sprang to mind. Even to this day Merlin wished he could have done something to have at least mitigated the worst of that mess, and he wished he could have stormed the concentration camps; it still disgusted him when he remembered the sights of the dead bodies. Not many people knew he had been there, posing as a soldier, but he had been there, and it had made him feel physically sick. And angry. Merlin had used magic to methodically choke every single German soldier he could find in some of the camps out of anger and he knew if Arthur was watching from Albion where the regular laws of life and death didn't apply, then his King would have approved. Arthur may have been raised to hate magic, but he would have found what the Germans were doing to those the Nazi's considered 'inferior and undesirable' disgusting, especially since it came too close to home about the way the Pendragons had tormented and hounded those in the lands of Camelot with magic. There were limits to what the Pendragons would have taken, and while it was possible Uther would have been delighted by the prospect of a concentration camp, even he would have been wary about it because the sorcerers he was persecuting would have enough time to escape.

Merlin shook himself out of his reverie and kissed Mildred lightly ontop of her head before picking her up, making her squeal in surprise and delight.

"Dad!" Mildred squawked.

Julie chuckled and smiled, her heart fluttering at the sight of Mildred being embraced by her father, though the trepidation and uncertainty she felt it wouldn't last was still there.

Merlin put her down smiled at her kindly. "I saw what you did at Cackles," he said to her simply.

Mildred blinked. "Y-y-you did?" she asked, frightened suddenly that her father would become angry with what happened, though since Agatha was now in a picture after she'd rallied the other girls into a spell to reverse Agatha's magic. As far as Mildred was concerned she true heroes were the other girls, all she had needed to do was rally them into chanting the spell and provide the raw power to reverse the annihilation spell.

Merlin grinned at her. "Relax Mildred," he said, inwardly cursing the fact the girl seemed to have inherited the uncertainty of both of her parents, "I'm not angry with you. I think you did a good job, even I was surprised when I saw you get the other girls to work together in that manner."

"What happened?" Julie asked.

Merlin and Mildred filled her in on what had happened, and while Julie didn't understand the magic even she was horrified that Mildred could very well have been crushed to death by Agatha's spell.

After dinner, Mildred was doing the washing up while she left her parents to it. The two adults were suspicious of Mildred's motives but they'd simply gone along with it.

"What are you planning to do, I mean are you thinking of going away again?" Julie asked, her inner fears still present. She didn't want to get back to where she and Merlin had left off only for him to just leave again. What if he got her pregnant again, and he was forced to keep away again? Julie didn't understand how it had happened the last time, how a form of magical power could just keep him away, and she prayed that it wasn't to hurt Mildred. If it was, she would never forgive….whatever it was.

Merlin wasn't surprised by Julie's question and looked at her sadly. "I have no intention of leaving," he said honestly, "I can't see why we shouldn't be together. If I'm separated from you again, I'll simply remove my magic- there is a way."

"Y-you'd do that?" Julie whispered.

"In a heartbeat; its not pleasant, but its better than nearly dying, and besides I'd rather be powerless if it meant seeing my child. It still doesn't make sense to me why I was not allowed to see Mildred. It's not fair on her, and its worse on you. You had to raise her virtually on your own."

"Why do you think that is?" Julie asked, that didn't make any sense to her, though she loved him for deciding to do the selfish but ultimately right thing and just remove his powers if it meant being with her and their child.

Merlin shrugged, deciding to be perfectly honest with one of the women he had loved, he had adored dozen of them over the centuries, but Julie was one of the few that filled a different category. In some respects, she was similar to Freya, and even Morgana before he had made so many mistakes regarding her, and he cursed Kilgharrah and Gaius for making things so unbearable for him since so many things had gone wrong.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, "but Mildred was meant to become a witch. Always. Maybe the Old Religion believed that its return relied upon a young girl who was born and raised away from magic. When I found out Mildred was being taught at magic at Cackles, I was surprised since her magic isn't exactly compatible with theirs. But what upset me the most was, since I wasn't around and hadn't told you about who I really was, Mildred was alone in Cackles, and it reminded me of my time at Camelot."

"You were alone, because you had magic? Mildred told me the differences of the legends and what was reality, but I didn't think it was that bad," Julie said, ashamed a little in herself.

"It was," Merlin admitted, his eyes darkening as he remembered those days in Camelot, how he had gone from hopeful to resigned, annoyed, fearful before going back to hopeful. Those feelings had, ironically, grown worse when Arthur became King since Morgana had been the one responsible for murdering Uther, framing Merlin in his Dragoon guise at the same time. "People were so afraid of magic, hateful towards it. Most of what I thought I could achieve didn't happen, and when Arthur's wife Gwen reigned, she sought my help to set the record straight about magic."

"It didn't work out?" Julie guessed sympathetically, her eyes becoming sad.

Loving this woman more for her understanding, Merlin sighed a sigh that sounded as though he had the entire weight of history on his shoulders. He probably did. "No. Gwen was the only thing holding back the old hatred, but when she died it came back like a disease. In the end conclaves formed and eventually the Old Religion evolved into the Craft and Wicca just to survive. The Craft is more than just magic, its a philosophy and a belief in magic. I just felt it was such a waste."

He looked into the wine glass sadly. "I've occasionally tried to intervene over the years, but after a while I just stopped. What would be the point of constantly getting in the way. Sometimes I was even powerless to get involved - the Salem witch trials were the worst, because I could have done something to stop it, but I was too far away."

"Try not to be hard on yourself, there are things so many people want to do, but they can't," Julie whispered, not liking the implication that Merlin could've done so many things throughout history, but when she looked at it she saw the problem. If people realised they had some great, mighty protector they might learn to rely on him to clean up the messes of other people. She changed the subject, this wasn't the time to get involved in a debate that touched on some truly worrisome issues.

"One of the problems Mildred has at Cackles is keeping up with the other girls," Julie said, watching Merlin for his reaction, "I know she's been bullied for living with me-"

"It's not that," Merlin said, "well, its part of the problem. They're threatened by her, most young witches Mildred's age have never really interacted with non-magical children. Have you ever read the Harry Potter books?"

"Yeah."

"Then you'll know that that version of the magical community hides away from the non-magical. One of the characters says its so then they're not bothered, but in reality its to stop magical people from being killed. It's not that different in reality, but in real life witches and wizards can see the non-magical world, but children are kept separate because they don't have the mental control or the understanding needed to ensure the secrecy of magic," Merlin explained. "In Mildred's case, its because they're being confronted with a girl who they think shouldn't be around, but that's changed - I arrived in the hall and led her away, so that gives her some degree of protection."

"Why?"

Merlin chuckled. "I don't mean to sound arrogant, Julie, but I am one of the most powerful wizards on the planet. I might have caused problems for my own kind during my time at Camelot, but I did a lot more for it after Arthur and Morgana died. Everyone saw me in the Great Hall of Cackles Academy after the Great Wizard revealed her powers to everyone, I went to meet my daughter and let everyone know she was, more or less, under my tutelage from that point on, but I just wanted to meet her. If other witches and wizards- Morgana, Circe, among others did the same thing, Mildred would have a bit more protection. Those witches who bully her now realise Mildred isn't someone to trifle with. Besides, this summer I plan on teaching her more magic, and I also want to teach her some customs. She'll need them."

The night passed beautifully as far as the three were concerned. Merlin enjoyed playing a few games with Mildred and Julie, sometimes two of them played while the third watched, but it was a wonderful night.

When it was time to go to bed, Merlin discovered for the first time what a little girl on sugar high was like - okay, granted Mildred hadn't had that much in the way of sugary snacks - but she was so excited that her father was in the flat she couldn't help but be overexcited, and yet despite Merlin's honesty and his pledge to give up his magic, literally, she was still worried he would be kept away from her and Mildred.

Julie was siting on the other side of Mildred as the girl got under the covers and grinned up at both of her parents. "Sowhatarewegonnadotomorrow?" Mildred got out.

A confused Merlin blinked as he tried to decode what his daughter had just said. "What did you say, Mildred?"

"So, what are we gonna do tomorrow?" Mildred repeated much more slowly.

"Oh," Merlin glanced at Julie who was looking back at him with amusement. "I don't know. I don't like making plans, they always go wrong. Lets see how it goes, okay?"

Mildred nodded sulkily, she had obviously hoped to hear something more profound than that. Julie rolled her eyes. "Night luv," she said, kissing Mildred on her forehead.

Merlin followed suit and followed Julie out of Mildred's bedroom.

Julie stared at him hesitantly. "What are you doing now?"

"How do you mean?"

"I erm, are you staying here, or do you want to go home?"

"I'd rather stay here, I don't want to tempt the Old Religion into keeping me away," Merlin replied.

"Do you want to sleep on the couch?"

"No, but if you want to-"

"I don't."

"Oh," Merlin said sheepishly.

Julie smiled at him and kissed him on the lips. When she broke away she turned off the lights and led Merlin into her bedroom, and the ancient warlock closed the door.

* * *

It's sad I'm updating and finishing this story, but I'm glad I have finished it.

I do plan on writing a sequel for when the second series comes up.


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